DIDSBURY - A local wrestling coach from Didsbury has been named to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.
Herman Dorin was honoured with the Pioneer Award at a press conference recently held at the hall, located just off the QE II in Red Deer.
The 89-year-old is scheduled to become an official member of the Hall of Fame at an induction banquet on May 31 of next year.
Dorin, who lives in Didsbury with his wife Shirley, says he was thrilled to be named to the hall.
"Wrestling had been such a huge part of my life," said Dorin. "It's such an honour to be inducted."
In a letter of support from Andrew Ross, technical director for the Alberta Amateur Wrestling Association, Ross stated that, "Herman Dorin had a tremendous career as an athlete, coach and builder across the province, growing the established centres of Edmonton and Calgary but also building the sport in rural centres in the 1950s and beyond."
Dorin grew up on a farm in the Edmonton area near a little town called Bruce. He played some hockey growing up as well as basketball.
"We barely had enough players to make a hockey team," said Dorin. "I was the youngest one so they stuck me in goal. Of course, I didn't learn to skate much. In basketball I went in for a layup and ran into the pole that held the basket so that ended that."
Dorin went to Edmonton for Grade 12 at Concordia College before moving on to the University of Alberta.
He began wrestling in 1949-50 at the University of Alberta under Dr. John Heath.
"I decided I better do something for exercise and for gym," he said. "There was boxing and wrestling side by side in the gym. Everyone was lined up for registration. I got in line and thought I'd try boxing. They lined us up by height and I was the tallest.
"Standing next to me was a guy my size named Ed French. We had taken our hero at Concordia to provincials and Ed knocked him out in about a minute. So I didn't think I was going to box."
Dorin ended up on the wrestling side where he trained under Dr. Heath.
"That was the only time I had a coach," he said. "He had gone to Korea and was killed. He was the only coach I really had until I became a coach with the aid of a book."
In his first year of wrestling he ended up winning his first match at Washington State College after filling in for a sick teammate who couldn't make the trip.
The following year he began co-coaching the U of A wrestling team, while he was still wrestling for the team. The next year, in 1951-52 he became head coach of the Golden Bears.
Between 1951 and 1966, Dorin was undefeated in provincial competition, winning the light heavyweight or heavyweight provincial title for many years.
"I wrestled 1949-50 in my first year in the Alberta Provincial Championships and lost," he said. "In the meantime, the coach, Dr. Heath, he and I and another guy were there every night training. Most of the wrestlers would go once a week, but we were so keen. So one of the wrestlers got sick and couldn't go to Washington State College to wrestle.
"They were the top wrestling program on the West Coast. I filled in and ended up winning somehow."
Dorin said he was strong from growing up on a farm and used that to his advantage on the mat.
"On the farm you learn to work," he said.
In 1957, Dorin got his bachelor of education degree and became a teacher. He worked for a number of years as a teacher at Winfield, Bentley and Eckville high schools.
He coached wrestling as much as he could and competed as well in amateur competition.
In 1958 in Bentley he started the first wrestling club outside of Calgary or Edmonton.
A decade later, in 1967, Dorin moved to Didsbury where he taught wrestling in town and also coached the Olds College team. He took several local area wrestlers to the Alberta Winter Games in the mid-1980s as a coach. In 1982, Dorin coached 11 boys from Zone 2 at the winter games in Lloydminster and came back with two golds and a silver.
In 1952-53 he took a few local boys to provincials in Calgary and ended up entering himself, placing second.
