Joey Payeur
There was never a day that went by that Hailey Clendenning wasn’t–and still isn’t–extremely proud of her dad.
And one of the proudest days is still yet to come.
Scott Clendenning will be inducted posthumously into the Fort Frances Sports Hall of Fame next month in the “builder” category and his oldest child, along with the rest of the Clendenning clan, will be on hand to witness the most successful coach in Muskie girls’ hockey history take his place among the giants of the local athletic scene.
Hailey only wishes he could be present to enjoy the tribute first-hand.
“It’ll be pretty difficult to have him not there,” conceded Hailey, who will give the acceptance speech at the ceremony while accompanied at the podium by her sisters, Calie and Jenna, and brother, Jake–with all four having been coached by their dad at one time or another.
“But it’s an honour for us to get it on behalf of him,” she noted.
Clendenning guided the Muskie girls to their highest-ever finish at the OFSAA ‘A/AA’ championship by claiming the silver medal in 2015 in Kenora.
Considering what leading the girls’ squad meant to him, especially with Calie and Jenna being part of that year’s team, that achievement almost assuredly was more pleasing to him than winning OFSAA silver as a Muskie player in 1984 and 1985–or even captaining the team’s first-ever OFSAA title in 1986.
Four days later, the unthinkable happened as he suffered a fatal heart attack while vacationing in Mexico.
If anyone doubted what Clendenning meant to the community, that notion certainly was dispelled at his funeral, which drew an overflow crowd of about 1,000 people to his old stomping grounds at the ’52 Canadians Arena.
“Judging from the funeral and how many people showed up, [it] shows how much of an impact he had here,” said Hailey, who gave a heartwarming eulogy that day while displaying phenomenal grace and composure.
“He wasn’t just a coach. He was everyone’s friend,” she said.
“If you needed to, you could talk to him about life or hockey or anything.”
Clendenning put in countless hours not only as a coach, but a board member and league convenor for the Fort Frances Minor Hockey Association and Fort Frances Girls’/Women’s Hockey Association.
It was his efforts that brought about “The Rock,” the 3-on-3 youth league that remains wildly popular each spring here.
He also created a youth development camp that ran in late August and catered to families from even the less financially well-to-do demographic.
“There’s no real way to describe it,” Hailey said about the effect her dad had as both a person and a leader of the local hockey community.
“You can just see it and feel it when it comes to what he meant to the game of hockey around here.”
Hailey took the first step in carrying on her dad’s coaching legacy when she became a part-time member of the Muskie girls’ coaching staff last season as an assistant to his best friend and former teammate, Todd Hamilton.
“Absolutely I would like to follow in his footsteps,” she said.
“I want to be as great of a coach as he was.”
As for what the man himself would say about the accolades coming his way if he were still around, Hailey felt sure it would have been received well.
“I think he’d feel very honoured,” she remarked.
“He put so much time into his coaching and the 3-on-3 league that for him to get recognition, he would have felt very humbled.”
Editor’s note: The Fort Frances Sports Hall of Fame will hold its second induction ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 12 at La Place Rendez-Vous.
This is the first of a series profiling each of this year’s inductees.
