Peter McLeod
As one of nine children growing up on a dairy farm in North Lancaster, Peter McLeod learned early on how to be a team player and to keep on going despite injury. He brought that wisdom and strength to Glengarry where he excelled in broomball, track and field, football and soccer, winning awards and championships even while sustaining sever ankle, sternum and shoulder injuries.
McLeod began his sport life at Glengarry District High School (GDHS) in grade nine when he joined track and field. He spend grade 11 and 12 at Iona Academy, years he remembers fondly. When he returned to GDHS for grade 13, he played football, broom ball, and track and field. In football he was coached by past sports hall of fame inductees Jean-Yves Jeaurond and Stanley Fraser who both realized McLeod had a knack for speed. McLeod recalls his first football game in Cornwall. “None of us knew much about football, we’d never even watched it,” he laughs. “I just ran fast because I didn’t want to get caught.
I guess they thought I was quick enough because I became a running back right away.” His coached offered suggestions. “If there’s an open hole, just take it,” said Jeaurond. “If not there’ll always be another.” McLeod said, “Hey, I just keep running and don’t open my eyes until people stop hitting me!” Speed was McLeod’s claim to dame. He won top place in sprints and long jumps, and helped take his team to many top place finishes. A shoulder injury sustained in high school football unfortunately re-emerged during an infamous tackle against Hawkesbury. “I got the guy, but my shoulder was badly dislocated,” says McLeod who explains how sever the injury was. “I’ve had to put it back into place many times.” But that didn’t deter the star athlete from sports. McLeod went on to university in Windsor to study kinesiology in 1969, and joined track and field where he placed in every event. When asked to play soccer in university, McLeod was hesitant because of previous ankle injuries, yet could not resist the tug to soccer and speed. “I wanted to play,” he says, “so I put on my high top basketball shoes, taped my ankles that were wrecked in a Glengarry game and didn’t care if people laughed at me.”
A barn accident that did further damage to his shoulder caused him to quit university sports and head to the oil rigs of the west. He was later hired to run recreation leisure centres for oil companies because of his knowledge of sports. Upon his return to Glengarry, McLeod played soccer in yet another pair of customized shoes that would support his ankles and then claimed the rookie of the year title. McLeod added a teaching certificate from Ottawa University to his credentials and went on to teach education, special ed., agriculture and became a council at GDHS for several years. He pursued his love sports and passed it to many young students while re-uniting and coaching football with one of his mentors, Jean-Yves Jeaurond.
On the side, McLeod continued to play sports, often competing against some of his students. “It was awkward at first,” he says, “but eventually we all learned from it.” McLeod retired from teaching in 1985 after taking the junior girls soccer team to EOSSA in 1984. He’s gone back to farming full time and has had some of those injuries repaired. He’s started biking and continues to golf with his wife. “My most horrible sports moment has actually been in golf,” he says with a smile. During his last year teaching, the avid athlete and some of his colleagues went out for a round of golf. He rented clubs and said at one point he hit the ground instead of the ball with his club. “I hit the ground so hard the club broke in two,” he comments. “One half ended up at the club house rood. You should have seen the look I got when I returned half a club!”
McLeod was also instrumental in helping to enlarge the soccer field in North Lancaster, starting girls soccer in the area, was chairperson of the Glengarry Soccer League and helped start the Tournament of Hearts, as well as raising awareness about Glengarry soccer. “We have a unique style of play here in Glengarry,” he says holding up his ankle high soccer shoes. “We play no matter what!”
