Larry Lahey Tonight’s C-K Sports Talk Guest

C-K Sports Talk is live from 99.1 CKXS studios tonight with local basketball pioneer and new author Larry Lahey.

‘The History of Kent County High School Sport’ is now available for purchase and can be picked up at Lenover Meats (Park Ave., Chatham), Instant Print Shoppe (Richmond Street, Chatham),  and Instant Print Shoppe (Wallaceburg).

Lahey, a member of the Chatham Sports Hall Of Fame, was a longtime teacher and coach at John McGregor Secondary School  from 1967 to 1998, most notably with the senior boys basketball team. He was an outstanding coach and innovator who established and improved the McGregor program.  His enthusiasm led other coaches in various sports throughout Kent County to follow his example. Over the years, Kent County teams, particularly basketball and volleyball, became well-known throughout the province for their ability, their competitive nature, and their sportsmanship. (excerpt from the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame website)

Lahey says he made the decision to write the local 210 page history lesson after the former KCSSAA disbanded in 2014.

“When I learned that the Kent County Secondary School Athletic Association (KCSSAA) would be dissolved in June of 2014 I realized that the 90-year old KCSSAA history could be lost because the present trophies would no longer be needed by the new Lambton Kent Athletic Association,” Lahey said in a media release. “The 50 or so trophies were collected and the information recorded.”

Join 99.1 CKXS, Peter Cobb and Sean Moynihan with Larry Lahey TONIGHT at 6:10 pm (Monday, Sept 21). CKXS streams live online at ckxsfm.com and you can download FREE mobile apps for iPhones and Android devices.

• Coaching Highlights
  • Senior Panthers reached Kent County tide game 29 of 30 years, winning 18 of them; they won 10 SWOSSAA and 4 OFSAA championships
  • Kent County championship teams he coached were track and field 3 times, midget boys basketball 3 times, boys gymnastic 5 times, and junior girls basketball once
  • Senior basketball teams never failed to have at least 1 player as a first team all star
  • JMSS has won more OFSAA basketball titles (boys and girls combined) than any other school in Ontario and no other city has won more such titles than Chatham
• Coaching Firsts for Chatham Schools
  • to increase practice time and games played in a season in order to become more competitive with other communities
  • to begin summer basketball leagues and summer camps to improve the skills of boys and girls of all ages.  first to win an OFSAA basketball championship (1974-75)
  • to play preliminary games to the Detroit Pistons (1983)
  • to defeat Essex County in SWOSSAA boys basketball (1968-69
  • only school to defeat Windsor’s best for a SWOSSAA championship (1974-75 & 3 other times after that)
  • only school to finish first in the London Free Press Poll of top teams in the area (1977-78 with an additional two times)
  • to be invited to a university sponsored Christmas high school tournament (University of Western Ontario 1968-69)
  • to win a university sponsored tournament (University of Waterloo 1972-73 followed by an additional one)
  • only one to win the prestigious Toronto Jarvis Tournament (1976-77)
• Hall of Excellence
  • Larry was the guest of honor at the 2008 HOF Induction Ceremony.