A former Golden Bears Football captain and MVP of the 1967 Vanier Cup, 1999 Sports Wall of Fame Inductee Val Schneider passed away late last week. 

An athlete par excellence and an outstanding builder of sports programs, Val played for the Golden Bears football team for five seasons - 1963 to 1968. During that time the Beam won the WIFL championship four consecutive seasons, they were national finalists in 1965 and won the Vanier Cup in 1967.

From 1964 to 1968 (except for 1966 when Val took a year off to teach school) this inductee was named to the WIFL All-Star team and was co-captain of the Bears from 1965 to 1968. Following the 1967 Vanier Cup championship match won by the Golden Bears, Val was awarded the Ted Morris Memorial Trophy as the Game's Most Valuable Player (an award won by his son, Brent, in 1994 and 1996). His link with the Vanier Cup continued through his career. He was on the coaching staff of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies when they were Vanier Cup finalists in 1989 and 1994 and champions in 1990. He was inducted into the Vanier Cup Honor Roll for his contributions to college football as a player, coach and administrator in 1987.

After completing his degrees at the University of Alberta, Val entered the world of teaching and coaching. In 1969 he was appointed to the faculty of Red Deer College and was named, at the same time, as the head football coach of the Red Deer Packers and the head hockey coach of the Red Deer College Kings. His outstanding performances in these roles led to his appointment to the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan. His abilities as a builder of athletic programs were firmly established during his 26 years of contributions to this excellent university.

Val served as the head wrestling coach, the head coach as well as an assistant football coach of the Huskies, a guest coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and a member of the Coaches Working Committee of the Canadian Amateur Football Association where he teamed up with Jim Donlevy and Gino Fracas in developing coaching manuals for Canadian football. For eleven years Val was the Athletic Director while simultaneously serving as Assistant Dean of the College of Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan. He later helped to create and then coordinated the Huskie Athletic Endowment Fund.

Every role which Val Schneider has been asked to play he has done so with enthusiasm, commitment and outstanding ability.