Richard (Rick) Forrester
Sport: Football
Year Inducted: 2004
Richard “Rick” Forrester, born December 9, 1932, liked to say that it wasn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
It was a philosophy he upheld his young football players – high school and junior to during a lengthy a successful coaching career.
For the coach who was an outstanding athlete in his native Hamilton, playing quarterback for the junior Tiger-Cats in football-mad Steeltown, success and performance weren’t measured on the scoreboard, but by the effort put forth by his players.
Rick also never subscribed to the term “nothing game.”
Rick arrived in Cornwall in the summer of 1963 to begin a teaching career at St. Lawrence High School, at the time an Eastern Ontario Secondary School Association (EOSSA) football powerhouse.
The architect of the Saints’ was the much revered Art Anderson, who had earned the nickname, Mr. Football.
He came to St. Lawrence to teach building construction, but it would reunite him with a great love called football.
Rick was immediately enlisted by Anderson as assistant coach of the junior football team which supplied the varsity team with so many great players.
That year, he helped guide the junior squad to the EOSSA title.
The next season he became the senior team’s assistant coach and in 1967, when Anderson retired from coaching, he was handed the coveted head coaching job.
The shoes left behind by Anderson were enormous – too large to measure.
But fill them he did.
The Saints won back-to-back EOSSA titles under Rick, registering 38 wins and five loses.
He moved on to Char-Lan District High School in 1969.
In 1978, he transferred to General Vanier Secondary School and guided the Vikings to their first S, D and G senior title. In two Championship seasons under Rick, the Vikings compiled a 27-3 win-loss record.
In 1988, Rick did what many thought was the impossible, he resurrected senior football at Cornwall Collegiate and helped re-organize the senior football league.
Away from the high school football wars, Forrester spent a season as head coach of the Cornwall Mustangs of the Interprovincial Junior Football League. He was hired by Ed Lumley, the team’s general manager.
He died April 26, 2003.