White Rock Christian Academy’s fundraising golf tournament Monday in South Surrey had a decidedly retro feel to it for longtime Lower Mainland sports fans.
The event, held at Morgan Creek Golf Course, featured a round of golf followed by a panel discussion featuring three alums of Sports Page, the popular television sports show that ran from the late 1970s until 2001.
Chris Hebb – a White Rock resident who hosted the show from 1983 until ’85 before getting into the business side of television – was joined by longtime Vancouver broadcaster Barry Macdonald, as well as former Sports Page camera operator Trevor Henderson for the WRCA event, which served to raise funds for the school’s athletic programs.
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The trio answered questions and swapped stories about the show, which during its run proved to be a training ground of sorts for all manner of Canadian broadcasters, including Hebb, who moved on to executive positions with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment – former owners of the Vancouver Canucks – as well as current TSN 1040 radio hosts Don Taylor and Blake Price, Canucks play-by-play broadcaster John Shorthouse and a host of others.
The half-hour program, which ran nightly, was thrust back into the spotlight late last year, when the BC Sports Hall of Fame announced it would host a Sports Page exhibit.
Monday’s golf tournament was also attended by former B.C. Lions receiver and South Surrey resident Marco Iannuzzi, as well as a number of former WRCA student-athletes and coaches.
The event raised $15,000, according to Scott Allen, WRCA’s former boys basketball coach and athletic director, who now serves as the school’s director of development and was one of the tournament’s organizers.