By CLAUDE SCILLEY

Frank Halligan seldom gets ruffled.

That’s why it was such a treat for some of his colleagues to see him a tad uncomfortable a while ago at the annual general meeting of the Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association in Perth.

“He’s pulled enough strings for other people to get awards,” said Dale Huddleston, long-time coach and sport administrator at Ernestown Secondary School. This time, though, Halligan was not the one writing the nomination, but the one about whom it was written and, doubtless, the subject material was compelling. There was not a dissenter in the room when Halligan was announced one of this year’s winners of the Pete Beach award.

“You never know how people are going to view somebody from Kingston at EOSSAA,” said Dave Steele, principal at Frontenac Secondary School, who presented the award. “I know how highly regarded Frank is in the Kingston community, but when I called him up to receive the award there was a spontaneous standing ovation.

“These were all the (athletics directors) from EOSSAA. He is universally recognized as somebody who has done so much for sport in our area.”

Calm in the face of the myriad problems the chief administrator of high school athletics in the Kingston Area faces almost daily, as satisfying as it was for the local delegates to see Halligan recognized it was almost as pleasing finally to see him a little ill at ease at the podium.

“Frank’s always quick (with a quip) but he was pretty humbled by it,” Huddleston said. “It was pretty neat. He was totally surprised. We got him pretty good.”

The Beach award is named for a former executive director of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations, under whose leadership the federation grew from seven associations comprising 300 schools to 15 associations and 580 schools. Winners, according to the federation’s website, “exemplify the same dedication, spirit and love of sport that made Pete Beach a success in both his professional and private life.”

Each of OFSAA’s associations presents an award each year. Halligan is this year’s EOSSAA winner.

“You hang around long enough, eh?” said Halligan, retired as a teacher and coach after many years at Regiopolis Notre Dame and Holy Cross, who now serves the Kingston Area Secondary Schools Athletic Association as its commissioner, fulfilling such vital—if unsung—roles as writing schedules, booking facilities, engaging officials, resolving disputes and organizing championship events.

“It’s a pretty special award,” Huddleston said. “Frank is certainly well deserving of it.”

Halligan is nothing if not self-effacing.

“I’m probably one of the few who can remember Pete Beach,” he said.

“That’s why they give you the award.”

Not so, said Steele, the principals’ representative on both the KASSAA and EOSSAA executives, who presented the award.

Steele said Halligan’s greatest skill is his ability to solve problems.

“When conflict arises or there’s something that’s contentious, Frank brings to those situations wisdom and reason and focus that allows everybody to see which way we should go,” Steele said. “Part of that is that he works so hard. I quipped that if we were paying him by the hour, we’d all be broke, because he works extremely hard, which in itself avoids a lot of problems, but you inevitably will get situations where coaches may be upset, officials may be upset, you have to deal with athletes who have crossed the line.

“He deals with those situations very well. He involves everybody and seeks consensus and helps us arrive at the appropriate solution.”

Which is why, Steele suggested, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone with a bad word to say about Halligan.

“I remember him as a high school kid, running into him at a Queen’s football game. He had no reason to talk to me, but he was really friendly and really interested in what was going on in my life; he was engaging to talk to and really, really genuine.

“Everybody understands that Frank’s sole motivation is to provide opportunities to play and compete. He has no other agenda. You can’t say that about everybody. There are lots of people who are dedicated to coaching who at times will have a different agenda. That’s never the case with Frank. He just wants to see things done properly so the kids can play sports.”

Even those, Steele said, whose misbehaviour bring them to the attention of the disciplinary hierarchy.

“Frank is very understanding,” Steele said. “He’s never looking to vilify the student-athlete. He puts it in the context of the moment and wants to find a way forward. He’s very inclusive. He always wants to provide that athlete with an opportunity to be heard and then an opportunity for that athlete to understand why whatever decisions are being made, are being made, so that they can learn and continue to participate in the future and be better for it.”

To a stranger, Steele said he would describe Halligan as “one of the most caring, genuine, selfless people that I’ve come across.”

“The other thing—he’s always thinking. A lot of us, by nature of the profession that we’re in, become pretty reactionary. Frank is somebody who’s always thinking ahead, anticipating issues.

“He’ll call me up and say, ‘Dave we’ve got to be thinking about this, make sure our coaches are aware of what they have to do.’ He’ll have been in touch with colleagues across the province to see what are the issues, what things are coming to the fore. He’s quite forward-thinking, trying to anticipate things that we’ll have to address, all with this idea of making sure we can continue to provide kids with opportunities.”