Athletics
In the 1930 - 31 “Rarebits” 6 sports are chronicled. There was a Girls’ Basketball team and girls participated in Track and Field activities. There were Boys’ Hockey and Rugby teams and boys also participated in Track and Field. Some sports such as basketball, hockey and track and field have been perennial offerings since those early days. Football seems to have become popular after World War II and continues to be played to this day. Volleyball is another sport with a long history at Burlington Central. Other sports have come and gone and some have gone and re-‐surfaced. Rugby would be an example of a sport, mentioned in 1931, has not always had a team but has enjoyed a resurgence for both boys and girls. Soccer, the most international of sports, has had passionate teams during the baby boom years (with students from post - war immigrant families) and in more recent years of Central’s diverse population as an ESL/ELL collector school. Other sports that have run at Central, frequently or on a more limited basis, are Girls’ field hockey, boys’ baseball, girls’ softball, cross country, curling, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, badminton, wrestling and golf. One 1970s yearbook even has a photo of a Boxing Club. Ultimate frisbee has also made an appearance in more recent years.
The Grade 7 and 8 students have had their own volleyball, basketball, swimming, soccer (indoor and outdoor), track and field, cross country and touch football teams.
For several decades beginning in the 1940s, enthusiastic cheerleading squads cheered on the teams at events, particularly at football and basketball games, in an era when the outside bleachers and those in the double gymnasium were packed for games after school or on Friday evenings.
As with any school with a long history, there have been highs and lows in all the sports. The highs have included many Halton, Halton - Peel, COSSA and SOSSA championships and trips to OFSAA and the occasional provincial or national championship (eg. All‐Ontario Championship for Central’s 4 x100m Midget Relay team in 1971 and Jamie Porteous’ Canadian Wrestling gold medal in 1997).
In 2005, Burlington Central established an Athletic Hall of Fame. Inductees to date include two teams and several individual athletes. The two teams are the 1948 Football Team and the 1975 Central Blue Hockey Team that won 3 consecutive Halton titles and was the first Halton hockey team ever to advance to the All-‐Ontario Finals. Individual honorees in the Central’s Athletic Hall of Fame are Cathy Phillips, Jake Ireland, Don McFarlane, Bob MacDonald, Floyd Cooper, Tony Gabriel, Ron Sedlbauer, Charlotte Larose-‐Bett, Ian Sunter and Dane Cooke. A Builder category was later added to the Athletic Hall of Fame. Many coaches are honoured with the Builder designation. They are James MacFarlane Bates, Ward Russell, Ray Bieman, Pat Armstrong, Dale Parker, Grant Orton, Rod Frith, Paul Jeffray, John Duggan, Ian Coutts, Lucy Williams, Barb Edwards and Todd Ford. Each one of them coached between 23 and 35 years at Central and their total years of service represent a commitment of 340 years to the success of the athletic program.