Ray Broadworth - GLA Founding Member and Member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame

PRESS RELEASE

June 30, 2011

Gloucester Lacrosse Association Honours Founding Member And Lacrosse Hall of Famer

The Gloucester Lacrosse Association will pay special tribute to the Broadworth family for their contribution to the game of lacrosse in the community, and in memory of one of the GLA's founding members, Ray Broadworth, at the opening ceremony for the annual Ray Broadworth Memorial Tournament (July 1-3). The GLA has invited Ray's widow, Sally Broadworth-Edwards, and her daughter Sheila Broadworth, to be their special guests of honour in a tribute to Sally's deceased husband's tireless efforts as a volunteer to develop lacrosse as a minor sport in Gloucester. The opening ceremony, scheduled for 11:45 AM on July 1st at Earl Armstrong Arena will host Sally and her daughter, Sheila Broadworth to the event named in Ray's honour.

Sally's family had a long history of lacrosse and when Ray met Sally lacrosse became part of the marriage as well. Together Ray and Sally's love of the sport and hard work as volunteers has given us a heritage of minor lacrosse in Gloucester since 1970. We are very fortunate that members of Ray's family remain interested and supportive of the sport and the GLA. As a coach, mentor, and volunteer, Ray left large shoes to fill after his sudden passing in 1982. We consider it the GLA's honour to have the Broadworth family name on the tournament and to keep Ray's love of lacrosse, and his passion for sharing that with the kids, alive. When it came to his players, Ray wanted fun and lacrosse to be synonymous. He was a manifestation of his own beliefs and legendary in the community for the kids who sought him out and wanted to be "one of Mr. Broadworth's players"," said GLA President, Laura Grant.

In 2005, the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame acknowledged Ray Broadworth's volunteer efforts as a Builder, and inducted him into the Hall of Fame.

Ray was a builder in more than one way as his true foundation was his love for sharing the sport with the kids, and his desire to instill the values of hard work, honesty, respect, competition and a love of life, in his players. The honour roll of graduates from the school of Ray are many. His funeral in 1982 saw record crowds of players, kids and their families turn out to pay their respects.

The honour roll for the GLA is also notable with Gloucester Griffins players going on to the National Lacrosse League or National Hockey League from Darren Pang (Chicago Black Hawks, 1984) to Marc Savard (Boston Bruins 2011) and Ben Eager (San Jose Sharks 2011).

Tournament details can be found on the GLA website at: http://www.gloucester-lacrosse.com/tournament.php

For more information, please contact the GLA VP Promotion, Kim Menard at 613-298-1372.