Travis Romagnoli
Travis Lawrence Romagnoli was born in Newmarket, Ontario on June 2, 1976. From a young age, Travis showed tremendous talent as a multi-sport athlete. He loved hockey and played for the Aurora Minor Hockey Association where he was appointed Captain of both the Novice and Atom A Rep teams. In 1988, he received the prestigious “Player of the Game” award during the Major Atom Tournament. Hockey was not the only sport that Travis gravitated toward; he swam competitively as a member of the Aurora Swim Club and played minor rep soccer with the Aurora Youth Soccer Club. In 1986, Travis further expanded his athleticism when he turned to gymnastics as an off-season conditioning activity for hockey. He was immediately hooked. For two years, he juggled both hockey and gymnastics until it became too demanding. It was clear that he had a choice to make, and he decided to concentrate on gymnastics, unsure where it would lead him. After deciding to focus exclusively on gymnastics, Travis saw near immediate success; at the 1989 Tyro National Championships, he won Gold All-Around, setting the record for highest score earning 111.5 out of a possible 120 points. That same year, he won the Town of Aurora Civic Award for his outstanding achievements. In 1990, Travis competed at the Junior Pan Am Games and won gold in Pommel Horse and bronze in Floor, Rings and All-Around. From 1991 to 1993, Travis trained at TN Academy in Concord under Coach Masaki Naosaki and Coach Hiroshi Shimosaki. Multiple clubs trained within the same facility and the overlap meant that Travis received guidance from a variety of...
Loring Doolittle
Loring Doolittle, known affectionately as “Dooey,” was born in 1928 in Aurora. He grew up in a large family with three brothers and three sisters in the family home on Catherine Ave. Loring excelled at several sports from a young age. He played hockey, lacrosse, and baseball for local teams in Aurora, Newmarket, Maple, and King City. His mother and father attended every local game. His younger siblings looked up to him as a hero. Loring did not like school. He left for good in grade 8 to work at the Sisman Shoe Factory. Loring also had a stutter. In school a teacher ridiculed him telling him he should be quiet until he learned to talk. Later in life as a referee, however, he had no difficulty talking to an audience of several thousand spectators. Despite his dislike of school, he looked up to the school’s principal Dell Babcock. The principal, who also coached hockey, liked Loring and the two had a lifelong friendship. Loring and older brother Gar were very close in both age and ability. The brothers played baseball for both Aurora and Newmarket over the years. At that time, the winning team would pick two of the best players from the defeated local team before going to the Ontario finals. Gar and Loring were often chosen and played together. The two brothers were also chosen to tryout for the pro-ball team in Toronto which was at that time called the Toronto Maple Leafs. Years later Gar joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and passed away soon afterwards due to an operation in 1946. His brother’s...
Robert Bain
Bob Bain was born in 1947 in Niagara Falls Ontario. His father was a basketball coach on an RCAF training base, which is where his parents met. In his youth he played baseball, hockey, and football. In junior hockey he played with future pro hockey player Derick Sanderson. But of all the sports he tried he exceled in basketball. Bob played basketball for his high school team at Stamford Collegiate for several years. His coach there encouraged him to continue his education to the university level, which he did. Bob attended Waterloo Lutheran University (now Laurier University) and played on their basketball team the Golden Hawks. Bob and the team made the national championships three times and won it finally in 1968. After gaining his degree in psychology he moved on to the University of Alberta where he earned a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s in physical education. As a graduate student coaching was now open to him. His first chance came in 1972 when the team’s junior varsity coach took a year off. Bob became coach of the Golden Bears and that season led his team to victory in the Canada West Playoffs. Bob was offered a position at a brand-new physical education program and began as a lecturer at York University in 1973. Within a week he moved up to coach of the basketball team. Before this promotion Bob had considered more education, but never went back because he loved to coach so much. He eventually gained tenure at York and taught in the coaching certificate program. In his career at York, Bob led the Yeomen to...
