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Local lacrosse community mourns Fred Doig

Fred Doig, the father of lacrosse in Prince George, died early Tuesday morning at 91. Doig, a two-time Mann Cup champion with the Victoria Shamrocks, brought Canada's national summer sport with him when he moved to Prince George in 1965.
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B.C. Sports Hall of Fame member Fred Doig, centre, presents the Fred Doig provincial senior C championship trophy to Westwood Pub Devils captains Dave Bennett, left, and Blake McIntosh in 2014.

Fred Doig, the father of lacrosse in Prince George, died early Tuesday morning at 91.

Doig, a two-time Mann Cup champion with the Victoria Shamrocks, brought Canada's national summer sport with him when he moved to Prince George in 1965. Within a few years the city was sharing his passion for the game, watching him play in the rough-and-tumble four-team Prince George Lacrosse Association, which drew packed crowds to the Coliseum.

His influence spawned the Prince George Minor Lacrosse Association and the future of the sport in the city became entrenched. As a player, nobody shot harder or more accurately than Doig and once he had the ball, good luck trying to take it away from him. As a coach, his knowledge of the game and his gentlemanly approach to teaching it empowered his players to want to stick with it. The examples he set for his players, in lacrosse and in life, made them want to push themselves to the limits of their capabilities to accomplish their goals.

Above all that, he was a family man grounded in solid principles who raised seven kids with his wife Marion and he made them all feel privileged to be part of the clan. Anybody who had the pleasure of meeting Fred knows how personable and witty he was and how genuinely concerned he was for your well-being. Whether you were a friend or a stranger, he made you feel special.

In October 1999, when he was about to be inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame, I wrote the following story to try to encapsulate the legend that made Doig the man he was:

Fred Doig remembers the day he pulled the wool over the eyes of the Molson Oldstylers like it was yesterday.

It was the summer of 1970 and Doig's Columbus Macs were down 1-0 in their Prince George Lacrosse Association final against the Old Stylers, their most hated rivals.

Doig, the Macs' player/coach and future Prince George Hall of Famer, missed the first game of the best-of-three series to be in Trail with his father who had suffered a heart attack. Fortunately for the Macs, Doig's dad recovered quickly and he told his son to hurry back to Prince George to help his team win the series.

While the Old Stylers had stacked their roster with talent imported from the Lower Mainland, the Macs were almost entirely Prince George-bred. Doig, Al Mottishaw and goalie Ed Conway were the only imports.

But Conway, the league's best goalie, was away on holidays in the Yukon. When Doig found that out he got on the phone and convinced Conway to take the next flight back from Whitehorse so he could start Game 2. That's when Doig hit upon the idea of keeping Conway's return a secret.

To build the hype, Doig boldly told Citizen sports editor Doug Martin and CJCI radio announcer Don Prentice of his plans to fly in a mystery goaltender for the rest of the playoffs.

Playoff fever was at an all-time high in the five-year old league and as fans stood in line to pack the sold-out Coliseum, and everyone was wondering if the Macs would indeed flout the rules by adding a new player to the roster.

Doig's wife Marion made Conway a vest emblazoned with a bulls-eye target which covered his chest. Conway came out for the pre-game warmup wearing the vest, an old jersey and a ball hat turned sideways under his mask.

"I told him not to go out in his normal stance and he kind of staggered out there and nobody recognized him," Doig said. "The referee turned to me and said 'Fred, we told you you can't fly in a goalie' and I said, 'They can protest all they want, I'm playing that goalie right over there.'"

It wasn't until the lineup card was filled out that the Old Stylers found out who they were up against. Conway was spectacular in net and led the Macs to two straight wins which gave them the league title. They went on to beat heavily-favoured Vernon for the Interior title, then stunned a home crowd by crushing Nanaimo in two games to win the B.C. senior B championship. The Macs later won the Canadian title by default when Verdun, Que., decided not to make the trip west.

"I've been associated with a lot of teams but that group of kids would do anything for you," Doig said.

"It was all kids that went to school here and if you asked them to go through a wall they would keep going until they got through it."

Doig's indelible character was shaped on the lacrosse floor while playing defence for nine seasons with the Victoria Shamrocks senior A team, where he helped them to Mann Cup titles in 1955 and 1956.

Doig was a driving force in the formation of the PGLA, the city's first lacrosse league, which began as a two-team senior loop in 1966. Before long, there were four local senior teams competing in an interlocking schedule against Armstrong, Vernon and Kamloops. Seeing the need for a steady stream of local talent, he organized the city's first minor lacrosse league and spent his summers in the late '60's teaching young players at his lacrosse school. He officially hung up his stick when the PGLA folded in 1977 but has remained active as a masters player and coach.

Doig is the head of a three-generation family of lacrosse players. His son Brett plays in the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association for the team Fred now coaches, the Ironhorse Pub Bandits. Fred doesn't like to tell his age but offered up this clue.

"I'm going to play one game next year in the senior B league (for Ironhorse) and then I'll have been involved in lacrosse over eight decades," he said.

Fred's 10-year-old grandson Drew plays minor lacrosse and it looks like he's inherited his grandpa's talent.

"The kid's got some really good moves," Fred said. "He was the MVP at the Jack Crosby tournament and I was really proud of him."

An upcoming Citizen article will feature more about Doig and his life and will be published next week in the days leading up to a celebration of his life at the Hart Community Centre on Saturday, June 22 at 1 p.m.