James Lazaruk (2017) - Sports Wall of Fame

Sports Wall of Fame

James Lazaruk

Class
Induction

2017
Sport(s)

Golden Bears Football

• Offensive lineman for the Golden Bears football team from 1971-1973
• Won two Hardy Cup Championships (1972 & 1973), and the 1972 Vanier Cup as a student-athlete
• 1972 Canada West first team all-star and CIAU All-Canadian
• Served as the Golden Bears offensive coordinator and assistant coach from 1979-1981, winning three-consecutive conference championships, and the 1980 Vanier Cup.
• Golden Bears football head coach for two seasons (1982 and 1983), winning the 1983 Canada West Coach of the Year award
• Coaching resume spans over three decades, including high school and Canadian junior football championships, and 25 years as a women’s basketball coach with Salisbury high school and MacEwan University

Wherever James Lazaruk - B.Sc (1971), B.Ed. (1973) - went, winning seemed to follow. Be that with the Golden Bears Football team, the Edmonton Wildcats Football Team, or at Salisbury Composite High School, Lazaruk had the ‘Midas Touch’.

After back-to-back all-star seasons with the Edmonton Huskies, Lazaruk first came to the University in 1970, and joined the Golden Bears football program that was on the cusp of greatness. The 1969 Golden Bears finished with a 3-3 record with a roster that included future Sports Wall of Fame inductees Dale Schulha, Dan McCaffery, and coach Clare Drake.

By the 1971 season, the Golden Bears established themselves as a power in Western Canadian Football, winning their 12th Hardy Cup championship, and advancing to the program’s third national championship. Despite losing the Vanier Cup to Western University, one thing was certain, the Golden Bears were a team on the rise.

Behind arguably the best offensive line in Canada, anchored by Lazaruk - a 1972 All-Canadian - the Golden Bears made their way to a second-consecutive Vanier Cup appearance. Alberta’s fourth trip proved to be fruitful, as a 20-7 win over Waterloo Lutheran secured the program’s second national championship, and first since 1967.

After earning his Bachelor of Education in 1973, Lazaruk quickly transformed from the leader on the gridiron, to the leader in the classroom. His transition from football to education was seamless, as his passion, dedication, and leadership were all qualities that made him one of Edmonton’s best high school educators. He began his work as a mathematics instructor at Salisbury High School in 1974, a post he held for an incredible 33 years.

Because of his passion for sports and local football, Lazaruk quickly founded the Salisbury Sabres High School Football team. If teaching high school mathematics, physical education and social studies wasn’t enough, he was also an assistant coach with the Edmonton Wildcats junior football team, as well as the head coach with the newly formed Sabres. In just two seasons, the Sabres captured their first City Championship.

By 1976, he had taken over as the Wildcats head coach, guiding the program to a 1977 National Junior Championship. In the span of just eight years, Lazaruk had won a University Championship as a player, and was quickly establishing his coaching resume with a Junior National Championship, and a High School football championship.

His pedigree of coaching young student-athletes had not gone unnoticed. In 1979, Lazaruk’s former coach, Jim Donlevy, offered him a spot on the Golden Bears football coaching staff. Over the next three seasons, with Lazaruk serving as the offensive coordinator, the Golden Bears captured three-straight Hardy Cups.

By the second year, the Bears were back in the Vanier Cup, matching Western University with a record fifth appearance. Behind Bears star running back, and Canada West Player of the Year Sean Kehoe, the Golden Bears cruised past the Ottawa Gee Gee’s 40-21, winning their third Vanier Cup.

After a record sixth Vanier Cup appearance in 1981, a 18-12 loss to Acadia, Lazaruk stepped into the role of Head Coach for two seasons, replacing the seconded Donlevy. With a majority of their roster graduating after 1981, Lazaruk was able to rebuild the perennial power, leading the Bears to a respectable 4-4 record in ‘83, while earning himself the Western Intercollegiate Football League Coach of the Year.

His coaching ability wasn't limited to football, as he took over as head coach of the Salisbury Women’s Basketball program in 1984. In the corresponding 20 years, Lazaruk added another 4 championships to his resume with Salisbury. By 2005, he had joined the MacEwan University Griffins Women’s Basketball coaching staff, serving as head coach from 2006-2010.

Lazaruk is the 36th former member of the Golden Bears football team to be inducted into the Sports Wall of Fame, and just the 11th person to go in as both an Athlete and a Builder.

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