He was born Fred Robert Severson in 1928, but his childhood buddies called him Whitey because of his ash blond hair. His talents for the game were recognized at an early age. On July 14, 1944, Whitey was playing for a juvenile team when he was approached by coach Jack Wood, who asked him to play for the Salmonbellies. Whitey was just 15, one month short of his sixteenth birthday.

"I couldn't get on the floor fast enough," Whitey later recalled. "It was the biggest thrill of my life. We beat the Burrards 22 - 11 and I got one of the goals. I'm sure Walt Lee, the Burrards goal tender just stepped aside and let me score."

Whitey's career was launched and the next year he and his good pal Archie Browning joined the New Westminster Adanacs. The mid-1940s was box Lacrosse without helmets, so it wasn't long before Whitey and equally blond Archie Browning became known as the Gold Dust Twins and the darlings of Royal City fans, particularly when they Ied the Adanacs to the 1947 Mann Cup title.

In 1951 both Archie and Whitey joined the then new Victoria Shamrocks franchise, and that's where he remained until his retirement from the sport. Of his career 1202 points in senior lacrosse, 869 were accumulated while wearing the Shamrock colours. Undoubtedly, his statistics would have been much higher if he had played in today's game, as the rules governing the awarding of assists became less stringent after 1968 when the Inter-City Lacrosse League became the Western Lacrosse Association.

Whitey's accomplishments in his athletic and civic careers are truly impressive.

As a Scoring champion he led the ICLL scoring three times. In 1949 he was co-leader with Jim Anderson and Harry Buchanan, in 1952 he was co-leader with Archie Browning, and in 1953 he was the solo scoring champion. When Whitey retired, he had established a personal record of 1110 points in Western Lacrosse. As a playmaker he led the ICLL in the assist column in 1952, 1953 and 1950.

Some of his records were pioneering as he was the first player in Western senior Lacrosse to play in more than 100 games, the first to reach 500 assists and the first to garner 1000 points. Those impressive statistics were rewarded with success and he participated in six Mann Cup series, winning gold with the Shamrocks in 1955 and 1957. The latter win was particularly sweet as he was player-coach.

As a coach Whitey offered his knowledge of lacrosse wherever it was wanted. He willingly helped at every level from kids through junior and into senior. Further, following his playing career, Whitey took up the whistle and refereed 189 senior games.

His lacrosse accomplishments are legendary and after 80 years of organized box lacrosse in all of Canada, only 10 players have played more than Whitey's 540 games. Also, his career 557 assist total is thirty-first highest while his 1202 point total stands thirty-second.

Whitey has also given back to his community in so many ways. He served as a Saanich alderman from 1972 to 1979 and he was Deputy Chief Severson when he retired from the Victoria Fire Department in 1985.

SPONSORED BY THE VICTORIA SHAMROCKS LACROSSE TEAM

Making his name in Canada's official national sport, Gary Gait's play drew the inevitable comparisons to hockey's Wayne Gretzky or basketball's Michael Jordan. A natural scorer who developed a knack for pulling off feats of athleticism not seen by most lacrosse watchers, Gary became the gold - or was that goal? - standard for attackers in the sport.

Whether it was shattering scoring records as a member of the Esquimalt Legion junior box team, scoring an NCAA-record 70 times in leading the Syracuse Orangemen to the 1988 national field lacrosse crown, or being the offensive sparkplug on title-winning Victoria Shamrocks and pro teams, Gary Gait set himself apart from the crowd.

Supported and complemented on the floor by twin brother Paul, he was an oft-unstoppable force from minor lacrosse through junior and at the college level, where the brothers led the Orange to three NCAA crowns. Back home the boys used their prowess on the field to help the Victoria Seasprays win two national championships, but went separate ways upon joining the senior box ranks.

Gary was already well into a successful professional career in the National Lacrosse League (three league titles, multiple league MVP awards) and had won two Mann Cup championships (1991, '97) and two Cup MVP awards (1990, '97) by the time he rejoined Paul for the Shamrocks' 50th anniversary season in 1999. The dynamic duo led the team that year and shared the Mann Cup MVP award as the 'Rocks won Gary's third and last senior box title at Memorial Arena.