The man fondly referred to as Coach O was honoured by Football Alberta as this year's Life Membership/Hall of Fame Award recipient.
Larry Olexiuk of the Bellerose Bulldogs was recognized for his passion and devotion to the sport while teaching individuals how to become men first and football players second.
The award honours individuals who have made a major impact on Football Alberta and amateur football in the province at any level over an extended period of time.
Olexiuk was presented with the award at the Football Alberta Bantam Bowl banquet May 21 in Edmonton.
Olexiuk's coaching career started in 1967 as the offensive coordinator with the bantam Jasper Place Lions.
The next year, Olexiuk was the head coach of the bantam St. Albert Palmer 49ers and his love affair with football in the city continued with the legendary St. Albert Storm high school program.
Olexiuk also supported the Edmonton District Bantam Football Association as head coach of its all-star team in 1986 and 1987.
Olexiuk was also the driving force in the creation and initial funding of the St. Albert High School Football Association in 1986 so athletes could stay in St. Albert instead of leaving the city to play high school football. Since then, high school football in St. Albert has grown from one team, the Storm, to teams at all three high schools in the metro Edmonton league.
Despite recent health issues, Olexiuk remains active as the Godfather of the Bellerose coaching staff as head coach Chad Hill's first lieutenant on the senior Bulldogs.
The team's Outstanding Offensive Player Award is named in his honour.
"Larry O has been a cornerstone for the football program at Bellerose and high school football in St. Albert. For as much as he has taught young men about the game of football, he has taught even more life lessons. His contributions to our program are invaluable," Hill said.
Olexiuk maintains strong ties with past players and has been instrumental in organizing the memorable 20th and 25th reunions of the Storm's 1990 team that won the metro league's Carr conference and was the Tier I provincial finalist while going 10-1 overall.
The 30th consecutive victory for the St. Albert Miners was Saturday's come-from-behind effort at Go Auto Arena.
The 2016 Presidents' Cup national champions battled back from period deficits of 5-2 and 8-6 to defeat the Calgary Mountaineers 11-9 in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
The Miners were led by Keegan Bal's five goals and three assists as the senior B team capped off a five-game homestand to start the season.
Bal's fifth goal broke a 9-9 deadlock with under three minutes to play and netminder Matt Hiebert assisted on the game winner.
Darren Kinnear struck twice and captain Jordan Cornfield, Sean Reid, Derek Burak and Richard Lachlan also scored against the Mountaineers (3-4).
Last year the host team for nationals in Leduc swept the Mountaineers in the best-of-three RMLL provincial final.
The last time the Miners failed to win a game was the 7-7 tie against the Rockyview Knights on April 30, 2016 in St. Albert to kick-off the regular season.
Tonight the Miners visit the Blackfalds Silverbacks (2-5) at 8:30 p.m.
A pair of St. Albert golfers competed at the PGA of Alberta Junior Masters last week at Wolf Creek Golf Resort.
In the female division, Brooke Brezovski of the Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club placed third out of seven U14 golfers and Alicia Easthope of the Sandpiper Golf & Country Club was fourth out of eight U18 golfers.
Brezovski carded scores of 83 and 91 for a two-day total of 174.
The U14 winner was Stephanie Chelack of the Inglewood Golf & Country Club at 161 (82-79).
Easthope shot rounds of 80-79 for 159 overall.
Cassidy Laidlaw of the Glencoe Golf & Country Club was the top U18 finisher at 148 (75-73).
