Black History Month: Tribute to the Incredible Black Athletes who came from T.L. Kennedy in Mississauga

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Published February 25, 2021 at 2:38 pm

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Thomas L. Kennedy Secondary School in Cooksville, Mississauga has been blessed in our 68-year history to have an abundance of extraordinarily accomplished alumni.

During Black History Month we’re celebrating the many successes of our Black athletes and others. During a 12-year span, 1974 to 1986, we had a dozen compete and win at all-Ontario, Pan Am, Commonwealth and Olympic games etc. Here are some of T.L.K’s and Canada’s finest athletes. 

PETER HARPER was enrolled at T.L.K. from 1974 to 1978.

Photo, courtesy of T.L.K.

  • 1979 – interscholastic record holder in the 400-meter race, that still holds today
  • 1980 – chosen to participate in the Moscow Olympics in the track & field events but Canada boycotted the games (due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan)
  • 1981 – set the world record in the 4 x 200 relay (with T. Sharpe, D. Williams & M. McKoy) in Sherbrooke, Quebec
  • 1984 – 1993 – Mississauga Raiders football team (defensive tackle)
  • 1992 – 1994 – Oakville Long Horns football team (defensive tackle)

DOUGLAS HINDS attended TLK from 1972 to 1977.

Photo, courtesy of Douglas Hinds.

  • 1979 – Represented Canada at the Pan Am games, St. Juan, Puerto Rico
  • 1982 – Represented Canada at the Commonwealth Games, Brisbane, Australia
  • 1978, ’79, ’80, ’82 – First place in the 400-meter race, Southland Conference Championships, USA
  • 1980 – Chosen to represent Canada at the boycotted Moscow Olympics, Russia
  • 1984 – set a Canadian record in the 4 x 400 relay at the Los Angeles Olympics (with M. Sokolowski, B. Saunders & T. Bethune)

STERLING HINDS attended T.L.K. from 1975 to 1978.

Desai Williams (far right) passes the baton to Sterling Hinds. Carl Lewis (far left) and Calvin Smith.
Library and Archives Canada photo.

  • 1978 – Canadian Interscholastic record holder in the 4 x 100 relay (with A. Campbell, P. Harper & J. Hinds)
  • 1982 – on the winning Washington Huskies college football team as a tailback, winning the Rose Bowl (28-0)
  • 1982 – second place finish in the 100-meter final at the Canadian Track & Field Championships, Calgary
  • 1984 – won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in the 4 x 100 relay race (with D. Williams, T. Sharpe & B. Johnson)
  • 1984 – 1985 – tailback with the Toronto Argonauts
  • 1989 – inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame

PATRICK McLEOD, TLK student 1976 – 1979

Photo, courtesy of Patrick McLeod.

  • 1981 – Mr. Toronto
  • 1984 – Mr. Ontario
  • 1992 – Mr. Canada
  • 1993 – Mr. Canada Cup Classic
  • 1995 – Mr. World (3rd place) – The Hague, Netherlands
  • 1995 – World Games (bronze) – The Hague, Netherlands
  • 1994 – Mr. Universe (10th place) – Graz, Austria
  • 2016 – 2020 Judge for Bodybuilding Canada
  • 1997 – 2000 TV host & producer “The Muscle Files”
  • 2019 – Present – Ambassador Bodybuilding Health & Fitness for Canada, Canadian Physique Association/International Federation of Bodybuilding

JERRY PHILIP was enrolled at T.L.K. from 1974 to 1979.

Photo, courtesy of Jerry Philip.

  • 1982 – M.V.P. (Most Valuable Player) in a York vs. Western University football game
  • 1983 – 84 – Team member of the Edmonton Eskimos (defensive back)
  • 2011 – 2020 – High school Coach for Nelson Lords Sr. Football team, Burlington (winning 3 Sr. OFSSA Championships)

DONNA SMELLIE, TLK student from 1978 – 1984


Jim Russell, Getty Images.

  • 1983 – TLK Female Athlete of the Year
  • 1984 – In Donna’s yearbook grad. comment she wrote that she’d like to compete in the 1988 Olympics. However, she competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the heptathlon (7 sports disciplines combined), placing 17th in the world at age 19.
  • 2008 – Opened Quest Sports with her brother Kevin, a private academy for high school athletes
  • 2009 – Inducted into Mississauga’s Sports Hall of Fame

KEVIN SMELLIE, was enrolled at T.L.K. from 1982 – 1986

Jogo Incorporated Sports Cards

  • 1984 – All-star player on TLK’s senior football team
  • 1989 – First-round draft pick & second pick overall in the Canadian Football League
  • 1990 – 1994 – Toronto Argonaut, full back
  • 1991 – Grey Cup with the Toronto Argonauts
  • 2008 – Opened Quest Sports with his sister Donna, a private academy for high school athletes

LOUIS CLARE attended TLK from 1964 to 1967

TLK yearbook photo, 1967.

  • 1965 – 1967 on the junior & senior football teams at TLK
  • 1970 – voted Most Valuable Player in the All-star Canadian Football League game
  • 1969 – 1972 – four-year football scholarship, University of Minnesota, where his record for the longest field goal held for 3 years
  • 1973 – 1975 linebacker with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
  • 1976 – 1979 defensive back with the Saskatchewan Roughriders
  • 1979 – 1981 – linebacker for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
  • 1981 – played for the Montreal Alouettes
  • 1987 – inducted in Mississauga’s Sports Hall of Fame

1978 SENIOR RELAY TEAM,

O.F.F.S.A. CHAMPIONS, CANADIAN INTERSCHOLASTIC RECORD HOLDERS – 4 x 100 meters

 
T.L.K. yearbook, 1978.
Front: Jerry Hinds & Peter Harper
Back: Alistar Campbell, Coach David Stone & Sterling Hinds 

All four students were enrolled at T.L.K. in the late 1970s when Economics teacher Mr. Stone was their coach.

Tim Mosher, with the assistance of: Peter Harper, Douglas Hinds, Patrick McLeod and Jerry Philip.

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