David Tait
Athlete - Hockey/Fastball
Inducted - 2018
David Tait was an all-round athlete, and turned that into a successful high school athletic career at Rothwell-Osnabruck. He was part of teams and individual sports winning several championships in basketball, track and field, badminton, and soccer. But from a young age his passion was lied with two sports, hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer.
David played his minor hockey in South Stormont for the travelling team Flyers and was part of teams that captured a number of Eastern Ontario tournament titles and League Championships between 1972 and 1976. The highlight being the ODMHA Championship in 1972 and the Midget League Championship in 1976. David got a tryout call from the Toronto Marlboros of the OHL for the 1976-1977 season but the opportunity was short-lived, as he became ill during the camp and was forced to return home.
His playing career continued with a 2 year scholarship to Canton University where he would help that team win a league championship. The team also travelled to a tournament in Amsterdam, Holland, and came home with the tournament trophy.
Upon his return to Eastern Ontario he finished his hockey career playing Junior B for the Morrisburg Lions and the Winchester Hawks. He was part of the 1978 ODJHL Champion Lions and during these years won multiple team and league awards such as MVP, defenseman of the year, and rookie of the year.
He was also a dominant fastball player, and was a standout shortstop throughout his playing days. He was part of various Newington teams before moving up to play in Berwick on teams that dominated the tournament circuit.
David accepting his award from committee member Kristie Tate