MONTREAL – Each Wednesday for a six-week period from May 20 to June 24, one of the 2020 inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame will be profiled. In our third installment, meet Mike Richards, a resident of Westmount, Que., who was inducted in the builder category.

Born Michael Laurence Richards in Estevan, Sask., he went on to earn a bachelor of arts from McGill in 1960, followed by a law degree in 1963. Active in both intramural and varsity sports, his grad profile in the 1963 Old McGill yearbook included the Latin phrase "mens sana in corpore sano", which translates to "a healthy mind in a healthy body".

A 5-foot-10, 178-pound defencemen who patrolled the McGill blue line from 1958 to 1963, Richards received the team's Albert Fyon Memorial Award as most improved player in 1958-59 and merited the Dr. Bobby Bell Trophy as Team MVP in 1960-61. He served two years as an alternate captain before assuming the role as team captain in his final campaign.  He had an active on-campus life during his undergrad years and helped raise and manage funds for the University, serving as a class agent for the faculties of both, Arts and Law. In 1962, he was named to the Scarlet Key Society, which recognizes excellence in leadership, high achievement in academic life and qualities of honour and devotion to duty.

A sports enthusiast, Richards has had a lifetime affinity for golf, tennis and downhill skiing. A former captain and past-president of The Royal Montreal Golf Club, he served as tournament chair of the 1997 and 2001 Canadian Opens and chaired the Presidents Cup in 2007. He was a director of the Quebec Golf Association from 1993 to 1999, served a decade as governor and director of the Royal Canadian Golf Association, in addition to stints as president of the Montreal Indoor Tennis Club and director of the Mount Royal Tennis Club.

Richards went on to a lengthy practice in corporate and commercial law and became a senior partner at the firm of Stikeman Elliott. Long after his collegiate days were over, he continued to take a leadership role on numerous McGill boards -- many of them that supported varsity athletics -- including 10 years of service on the University's board of governors. When called upon in a pinch, he stepped up to serve the institution as interim vice-principal, finance and administration.

In 1970, he was appointed secretary of the Martlet Foundation, which provides bursaries, scholarships and awards to support outstanding student-athletes and other student leaders. He has served as a member, chair and trustee of the  Foundation ever since. In 2005, he established the Mike Richards Hockey Awards, a scholarship awarded to eligible members of the men's varsity hockey team. Since 2009, he has served as chair of the McGill Athletics and Recreation Advisory Board.

Among his many other volunteer activities, he co-chaired the McConnell Arena renewal campaign, which generated $6 million and also co-chaired the alumni athletics division of the University's capital campaign, which raised $17 million. In 1999, Richards received the Award of Merit, presented by the McGill Alumni Association to a graduate who has enhanced the reputation and prestige of the University, through a lifetime contribution of exceptional leadership and service.

In 2012, he received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, which honours significant contributions and achievement, for his work as a volunteer at McGill and in the community.

Over the years Richards has been a director and treasurer of the Alumni Association, chair of the Alma Mater Fund, and a member of the McGill Fund Council. He also chaired the committee on the Future of Development and Alumni Relations, which helped chart a new course for these two areas and whose report still serves as a blueprint.

Other new laureates joining in the 2020 McGill induction class include basketball All-Canadian Nasko Golomeev of Sofia, Bulgaria, hockey All-Canadian Vanessa Davidson of Kirkland, Que., football all-star Glenn Miller of Beaconsfield, Que.,  soccer All-Canadian Odile Desbois, a current Montrealer from Sherbrooke, Que., and All-Canadian hockey player Bryan Larkin of Saskatoon, Sask.

The hallowed Hall now has 157 honoured members, 27 of them Olympians, since the pantheon was initiated in 1996. The 25th annual induction luncheon was expected to kick-off the University's 2020 Homecoming Week celebrations in late September but the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a probable postponement for a date to be announced later. Profiles for all previous inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame are also available online at: www.mcgillathletics.ca/hof.aspx


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca