Veteran Maritime racing official Gerard Smith is set to accept quite an honour on Prince Edward Island in just a few days’ time.

Smith, the well-known and dedicated Maritime race secretary, has had a long career as a player and coach in many sports on P.E.I., including hockey and baseball.

On Friday, November 9, Smith (baseball, hockey), Kathy O’Rourke (curling), Peter MacDonald (curling) and Lothar Zimmermann (fencing) will be inducted into the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame during the hall’s annual induction dinner, which will take place at the Credit Union Place in Summerside.

Smith was born in Charlottetown in 1942 and has spent many years in Summerside. ’Smitty’ was a goalie for the Hardy Cup-winning Saint John Mooseheads in 1972-73, and again with the Charlottetown Islanders in 1980-81. The Islanders were inducted as a team to the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Smith also played on the 1977 P.E.I. Islanders that won the silver medal at the Canadian senior men’s baseball championship in Brandon, Manitoba. He was a catcher and also played first and third. The Islanders were named to the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame as a team in 2016.

Smith tended nets for the Saint Dunstan’s Saints 1962 to 1964, and won Maritime titles with Sandy’s Royals twice in the 1960s.

In baseball, he also won Maritime titles with both the Morell Chevies and later on the Tignish Aces.

Smith coached the 1970-71 Summerside Crystals’ Island Junior ‘B’ hockey champions, and coached both the Peakes Little Leaguers and Mosquitos to Maritime minor baseball championships in 1972.

For more on Smith’s sporting background, click here.

As a race official, Smith has served as the race secretary for Summerside Raceway since 1972, and at the Charlottetown Driving Park since 2005. He also has similar duties for tracks in Inverness, Saint John, Fredericton and Woodstock, New Brunswick. He was named Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission Official of the Year in 2016.

Tickets for the induction dinner, which have been priced at $45, are now available by contacting either Sport P.E.I. at 902-368-4110, or Nick Murray at 902-393-5474. The inductions are sponsored by the P.E.I. Mutual Insurance Company.

(With files from the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame)