A Fort Frances educator who coached or officiated high school sports for over 50 years will be recognized this weekend when he is inducted into the Fort Frances Sports Hall of Fame.
Rick Wiedenhoeft got his start in Red Rock after graduating from teaching college in 1973.
A talented defensive back with the University of Waterloo, Wiedenhoeft caught the interest of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger Cats, who selected him in the seventh round in the 1972 draft.
Wiedehoeft gave little thought to playing professional football.
“I had no idea that I had been drafted. I hadn’t even given it any thought of going on after playing at the University of Waterloo,” says Wiedenhoeft.
“I said to the chief scout who gave me a call, well, I’ve already been accepted at teachers’ college, and that’s pretty much where I want to go with the rest of my career. So, thank you, but no thank you.”
While at Red Rock, a shortage of coaches led Wiedenhoeft to handle the school’s volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, badminton and track and field teams all in the same school year.
After eight years, he returned to Fort Frances and ended up coaching the high school’s football team.
Within three years, he was asked to handle the high school’s new boys’ volleyball team.
“Athletic director Jim Martindale asked me if I’d be willing to coach senior boys volleyball, considering that I had a fair degree of success coaching volleyball at Red Rock,” says Wiedenhoeft.
“I don’t know whether it was because I had such good success at Red Rock coaching volleyball or because I had no success coaching football,” he adds jokingly.
Wiedenhoeft would be back on the gridiron soon after when he stepped forward to referee games in 1984.
Soon, he was also officiating volleyball and basketball games, while also coaching teams.
“I still kept pretty busy for most of the year between coaching and refereeing,” says Wiedenhoeft.
Wiedenhoeft remained a fixture on the courts and football field well past his retirement as an educator.
In recent years, he has limited his officiating to volleyball.
“What really keeps me in the game is the love of working with young athletes. They’re so enthusiastic. They’re eager to learn. They’ve got lots of energy. They love the game. They’re dedicated to improving.”
Wiedenhoeft is humbled by his induction into the Hall of Fame.
“I didn’t really feel that I was worthy, that I had done enough to warrant being a member of the Fort Frances Sports Hall of Fame. I guess they figured differently.”
