Joe Schembri and the Mississauga Terriers

The picture to the right is of Mary and Joe Schembri, taken at our tribute dinner in late February, 2004.

Joe is responsible for making this organization what it is today. The tribute evening was a great success as people from across the hockey world paid tribute to Joe, including Ken Dryden, Hazel MacCallion, mayor of Mississauga and John Gardner, president of the GTHL.

During the celebrations the Terriers announced two new awards. One is the Reg Schembri Sportsmanship Award, which will be given to one player from each team at the annual end of season banquet. The other is the Joe Schembri Scholarship. This scholarship will be awarded to one deserving Terrier player every year, a player who exemplifies the highest achievements in a combination of academics, community work and, of course, hockey

This article describes only one part of Joe Schembri’s life as the General Manager of the Mississauga Terriers, a position he held for almost 27 years. It was originally published by cbc.ca/sports in February 2002 and is written by the Terrier’s president, Ken Wolff

It’s early Monday evening; the cold winter sun is quickly disappearing over the western corner of Erin Mills arena. The window to the ticket seller’s office is closed and the metal shutters at the snack bar are still down.

This is Joe Schembri’s hockey night. It formally begins in a little more than an hour when the 9-yr-olds take to the ice at 6:30 and ends some time around 10:00 when the oldest kids drag themselves into the dressing rooms for their post-game showers. He’s there for every loving minute of it, as he has been since he started this eight-team organization 27 years ago.

He hasn’t taken off his coat before one of his coaches bounds up the stairs and barges into the office.

“What the hell is this all about?” He’s brandishing a piece of paper. “This is such crap.”

“Hey Peter. I thought I might see you up here tonight. Want a coffee?” The workers at the arena make sure there is a pot of hot coffee in the office before Joe arrives.

Joe is the General Manager, a job that never stops. He appoints coaches, deals with the league, answers countless phone calls, chairs meetings, oversees volunteers and is responsible for the efforts of the executive. He too is a volunteer, but everyone knows the Terriers is his organization.

A few days ago he received an e-mail from a woman who had watched one of his teams play at a tournament. She said the kids were dirty and the parents were out of control.

“So, what’s on your mind?”

Experience has told him to let the coach vent. The coach is outraged that someone would send a note about his team. His players are aggressive, but not dirty. He has no responsibility for the way the parents behave. How dare they complain about his team after all of the work he does for these kids.

Joe wades in when the wave of anger has passed. As usual his message is full of anecdotes. He tells Peter that he will never accept that 9-year-old kids play dirty hockey.

“I got involved in hockey when I saw how much fun these kids have. I’ve seen bad teams and I’ve seen good teams. But I’ve never seen young kids who were trying to be dirty. They’re having too much fun to play that way.”

Joe’s tougher on the parents.

“When your parents are at the rink they are representing me and this organization. Unless they have something positive to say tell them to keep their mouths shut. I know they get excited, but the game is for the kids, not them.”

He tells the coach to have a team meeting and volunteers to talk to the parents.

Next up the stairs are four coaches from another of the young teams.

“Did you see that call? The ref gave our kid a hitting from behind penalty and there’s no way that was an illegal hit. Because of the refs stupidity our best player is going to miss two games!”

The coaches don’t want the ref assigned to any of their games. They want to write a letter to the league and have Joe endorse their complaints. What kind of message is being sent to the kids when the player has to sit two games for doing nothing wrong?

Joe’s first instinct is to support his coaches. He knows how difficult it is to deal with hockey parents who focus only on their kid. He nods sympathetically, but when they’ve had their say his message is clear. He’s not going to complain about the refs.

“Hitting from behind is a tough call. Maybe the ref missed something, maybe he wasn’t in the perfect spot but neither were you. He’s the one on the ice and it’s his job to call what he sees. Once he makes the call it’s over with and we have to live with it.”

By now the other members of the executive have arrived. Joe expects them to be there even if they don’t have kids playing for the organization. It’s part of being a member of the Terriers family.

“We’re going to need someone else to do bingo this week.”

Joe’s been going to bingos for the Terriers for 26 years. At one time it was a gold mine for non-profit organizations, but revenues have plummeted. There’s too much competition from casinos, video display terminals and lotteries.

Everyone on the executive has worked the bingo, but most of them don’t like the intrusion on their time.

One of them volunteers, but insists he won’t do it again this month. Joe doesn’t like the answer. He knows this guy and everyone else has busy lives, but he expects a strong, passionate commitment, just like his.

He’s 64-years-old and still lives and breathes his hockey club. Some times the coaches drive him crazy with their demands. The parents are often unreasonable. But the kids are always kids, which is why Monday night and every other night is hockey night for Joe. He’s one volunteer who is truly doing it for the kids.