Having never been much of a cross-country skier as a youth, Duntroon’s Jim Sinclair still can’t explain why he became so involved with the sport that has earned his induction as a builder into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.
After being exposed to Nordic skiing while on a three-year teaching stint in Sault Ste. Marie in the early ’60s, the 74-year-old Sinclair stepped into the coaching role of the Collingwood Collegiate’s cross-country squad for almost 20 years while also serving as an automotive instructor at the school. “I don’t know why we were drawn to
it, but we were. We used to ski as a family at Blue Mountain all the time – and I know it seems like a pittance now – but $5 for a lift ticket was too much,” Sinclair said. “So we tried something different. I took some technique lessons and it just grew from there. It was a pretty young sport at that time. Another teacher, Greg Titus, tried to get a Nordic team going, but he was involved with so many other sports, so I put my name in.”
Sinclair literally wrote the book on organizing cross-country skiing races for the
Southern Ontario Division for the provincial sports association and he helped
establish the successful Highlands Nordic facility in Duntroon, which is now owned and operated by his oldest son, Larry. With approximately 500 members and over 21 kilometres of trails, Highlands Nordic has become a world-class facility that has hosted several major competitions, including national championships, the 1993 world high school meet and the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
Sinclair played a key organizing role in those events, along with many others, including the 1991 Ontario Winter Games and the OFSAA championships in 1974 at Kolapore.
He downplays his role as a catalyst behind the development of Highlands Nordic and cross-country skiing at CCI and in southern Ontario in general, but his dedication continues to this day. He planned and worked on trails in Loree Forest, what is now Central Park in Collingwood and Huron Highlands and began hosting Georgian Bay and Ontario high school meets.
“I always said I was never going to do another trail after those and then I got into it big time at Highlands Nordic,” the Ottawa native added. “(Duntroon Highlands Golf Club founder) Dalt Sampson started the skiing and he cleared a lot of the trails himself. I don’t think that man ever skied, but he knew enough to make a nice, wide trail and didn’t make turns at the bottom of hills. Everything was done right the first
time around.”
This evening, October 23, 2004, the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame welcomes Jim
Sinclair as an enshrined member for his role as a Builder of our athletic community.
What an excellent description of Jim’s contribution to the development of x-country skiing at CCI, the Collingwood/Duntroon area and in the development of the Southern Ontario Ski Division ski team. He was an excellent coach (my CCI and SOSD coach 1972-76) who always set the best example. Jim and Larry, father and son, coach and skier, and later as peers, both with a passion for the sport and a love of life, were truly leaders in the development of x-country in this area.
Thanks for sending this note. Without question, Jim willingness to share his passion with the community is yet another example of the many incredible people that have come to define the Collingwood & area sports scene. On a personal note, I was fortunate to witness firsthand Jim’s welcoming personality during my high school years at CCI.