In a city where following the Salmonbellies’ play on the green wooden floor at Queen’s Park Arena is akin to a religion, Dan Richardson’s dedication to the franchise stands out.
Richardson, an accomplished former lacrosse player and coach in his own right, is the president and general manager of the New Westminster senior Salmonbellies.
The Record caught up with Richardson for a chat about his love of the ‘Bellies, what the team means to New West and his hopes for the future of the franchise.
Below is an edited and abridged version of that conversation.
Q: You are Salmonbellies’ president, general manager, and on the board of directors (all unpaid and volunteer) and you have a full-time career with a bank. How much time do you give to the ‘Bellies?
A: I probably spend as many hours with the Salmonbellies as I do with my paid job.
I grew up in a family that volunteered and that is just what you do – you give back.
It is a labour of love.
Q: Where does your devotion to the Salmonbellies come from?
A: When our family moved down to New Westminster from Powell River, when I was in Grade 6, my dad took my brother and I to a lacrosse game and we had never, ever, even heard of lacrosse. It happened to be the 1968 world championships, and the Salmonbellies played Detroit and it was standing room only. Queen’s Park was filled to the rafters, and it just ignited something in my brother and myself.
Q: What do you think the Salmonbellies mean to New Westminster?
A: It means a lot. I mean you walk around in the city of New West in the summer and there is not a day you don’t see a kid in a pair of red shorts with a ‘Bellies logo on and carrying a stick and a ball. I travel around with my work and I go to different communities and I don’t see that kind of concentrated support for one particular team. Every other team in our league has private owners. The Salmonbellies are owned by the community, and they know that.
Q: How long will you keep at this?
A: I had some goals when I took over. At the time the club was kind of in a downswing. We had such a good run through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, and this was in the late ’80s early ’90s when I came on board and quite frankly it wasn’t good. I wanted to get it back to its glory years. I wanted to fill Queen’s Park to the rafters, I wanted to win our 25th Mann Cup and I wanted to turn the ship around and, for the most part, we have done all those things, except for win the 25th Mann Cup.
I would love to stay on until we get this club to the Mann Cup.
For the full interview, go to www.royalcityrecord.com
