Sault College pays tribute to Tom White

Sault College honoured the late Tom White for his numerous contributions to the school's athletic program during their Athletics Awards celebration on Friday night.

White, a fixture in the athletics and natural resource departments, passed away late Saturday evening after suffering a stroke.

White, who remained a regular fan at Sault College sporting events after retirement, coached the Cougars men's basketball team as a volunteer for 26 years.

Sault College Athletic Director Tom Mauro and former men's head coach Terry Littlefield were among those who honoured White with an emotional recap of his enormous contributions to the athletic program.

The following is a full-text release provided by the Sault College Athletics outlining White's distinguished coaching career:

************************************************************ Cougar coaching legend passes away

It is with great sadness to announce the passing of Tom White, former Coach of the Cougar Men's Basketball team and retired faculty member of the Natural Resource Department at Sault College.

Tom passed away Saturday evening from a stroke that he had suffered earlier that day. Survived by his lovely wife, Barb, and his sons, Kirk, and Mitchell, Tom will always be remembered for his amusing character and passion for teaching. Tom was 74 years of age.

Tom volunteer coached our team for 26 years, from 1967 to 1993 and earned success in the now defunct OCAA Division II with a silver medal in 1991, several bronze medals and a Northern Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Title in 1973.

Since his retirement in 1995, Tom was a fixture at most Cougar home games keeping in tune with the OCAA, its players and Officials. The Tom White Award, named to the basketball player with the most dedication and commitment to his team, began in his honour in 1994. It will be awarded this Friday at our Annual Athletic Banquet with Tom and his family in our thoughts.

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