OTTAWA, ON – On Wednesday, May 28th at Lansdowne Park’s Horticulture Building, the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame will induct the Class of 2025 into our local sports shrine. Each Wednesday until the ceremony, the Sport Hall will post an article on an aspect of the event. Today’s feature is a profile on 2025 Inductee Pat Stoqua.

2025 SPORT HALL INDUCTEE – PAT STOQUA:

Pat Stoqua was a hometown hero all through his sports career.

Born, bred, educated and trained in Ottawa, Stoqua has competed, worked, coached, volunteered and fundraised in his hometown, maintaining his place as one of the city’s most celebrated sports figures for over 50 years.

He starred in both basketball and football at Lisgar Collegiate Institute and Carleton University, and went on to author of one of the most memorable plays in Ottawa football history with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

He’s coached youth basketball, served as an executive, helped to revive and rebuild Carleton’s football program, and he continues to volunteer in sports and support charitable organizations.

Tellingly, Stoqua’s nomination to the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame was seconded by an extensive group of coaches, players, teammates, Olympians, commentators, volunteers and leaders who were all impacted by his contributions.

Pat Stoqua grew up in Centretown in the St. Luke’s Park area, the youngest of five children in a family headed by a career plumber.

It was at Lisgar Collegiate that he first became a household name on the city’s sports scene. On the basketball court, Stoqua won the junior board title in 1972 and the senior crown in 1973.

Then in 1974, the Lords put together an unforgettable undefeated season that finished with an Ontario Golden Ball Provincial Championship. After winning the consolation round at OFSAA in 1973, the Lords won all four games at the 1974 provincials.

In the final – played before a capacity crowd of 3,000 fans in the University of Waterloo gymnasium – Lisgar didn’t take the lead until three minutes were left in the fourth quarter, but pulled away for a 48-39 win over Glendale of Tillsonburg.

“Everybody got along so well,” Stoqua proudly told Ottawa Sports Pages High Achievers columnist Martin Cleary when the team celebrated the 50th anniversary of their win in 2023. “We could have had one of seven different players be the high scorer in a game. But no one cared who was the high scorer. We were all very unselfish. Just hit the open man. We just wanted to win.

“Whoever got the ball and had the opportunity to score, scored. We were happy for them, whether it was Larry, Curly or Moe. Nobody cared less about MVPs or all-star teams. It was a collective group with a mission. We were pretty grounded.”

While at Lisgar, Stoqua also started to play football, and a young two-sport star was born. Despite a misshapen field at Lisgar that was less than half the regulation size, Stoqua quickly became the team’s best player while lining up on both offence (as runningback) and defence (as defensive back).

His athleticism was obvious, but Dr. Hugh Reid remembers Stoqua even more for his sportsmanship, which was infectious.

“This was obvious even in high school,” recalls Stoqua’s teacher and coach in both basketball and football at Lisgar. “He had tremendous respect both for the sports he played and for the competitors he faced. Somehow they sensed this and so he was always treated with the same respect. There was never any ‘trash talking’ nor ‘rubbing it in’ either by Pat or his opponents.

“No matter how competitive the game or the situation, the sport and respect took precedence.”

Stoqua would later become a captain of the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team as he piled up honours on the gridiron and the hardwood.

He debuted as the Ontario-Quebec conference’s football rookie of the year and went on to earn conference and national all-star honours in subsequent seasons while playing defensive back and slotback.

Stoqua also earned honours as team MVP, the Doug Banton Award for sportsmanship and selflessness and the Jack Vogan Medal for outstanding graduating athlete in his final year.

In basketball, he immediately became the team’s starting point guard and MVP, and was one of 24 athletes from across Canada invited to national team tryouts in 1977.

Stoqua was team captain and MVP, and an Ontario East first-team all-star in both 1978-79 and 1979-80. Carleton was 39-11 in regular season play during Stoqua’s run as a Raven and went to three Ontario East finals.

He was named the Ravens’ overall male athlete of the year in both 1979 and 1980.

“In my opinion, Pat is one of the finest all-around, Ottawa born and bred, athletes to have competed on Ottawa fields and courts,” says former Carleton football coach Tom Deacon. “His athletic ability was at an extremely high level, but it was Pat’s ability to mentally process and slow the game down that set him apart from others.”

The Rough Riders protected Stoqua as a hometown draft pick in 1979 and he went on to play six seasons, all with Ottawa, in the Canadian Football League.

Stoqua chose to focus on football once he was drafted, although he continued to play for the Rough Rider exhibition basketball team in the offseason to raise money for many charitable causes.

Stoqua played as a slotback, punt returner and on all special teams for the Riders. He was renowned for his great hands, his fearlessness in running inside routes, his ability to stay in the backfield and block both linemen and linebackers, and for his key contribution to special teams.

The 1981 season was unquestionably the most memorable of Stoqua’s career. He’d worked his way into a starting role but then missed six games early in the season with an ankle injury.

Ottawa trudged to a 5-11 regular season record but came alive in the playoffs. After downing Montreal 20-16 in the east semi-final, the Riders were heavy underdogs against 11-4-1 Hamilton in the east final.

Despite an early Stoqua touchdown grab, Ottawa trailed 13-10 deep into the fourth quarter and was pinned deep in its territory. But then rookie quarterback J.C. Watts found Stoqua again on a short pass, the slotback bounced off initial contact from two Tiger-Cats, and he wound up taking it all the way for a 102-yard game-winning touchdown.

Stoqua was named player of the game in the Riders’ upset victory and his second TD of the contest was chosen as the Panasonic CFL Play of the Year.

“When I came back (after the injury), I had to start all over again,” Stoqua told Ottawa Citizen reporter and Ottawa Sport Hall of Famer Tom Casey. “I never dreamt that things could turn out like they did Sunday. I figured things like that could only happen to a guy like Tony Gabriel.”

Stoqua ultimately came within a field goal of winning a Grey Cup in his lone appearance in the championship game as Ottawa fell to Edmonton 26-23. But Stoqua and the Riders’ improbable run in 1981 “is forever etched in the minds and hearts of Ottawa football fans,” indicates Riders teammate Bruce Walker, who calls Stoqua “the consummate teammate.”

“Tough, gritty, played offence, defence and special teams covering kicks and returning punts. Once again a confirmation of Pat’s athletic ability – he played all positions very well.”

After his professional career concluded, Stoqua was inducted into the sports halls of fame at Lisgar and Carleton.

“When you consider everybody who has come through athletics at Carleton during the past 50 years, there are many, many outstanding people who warrant the honour of being in this hall,” Stoqua told the Ottawa Citizen‘s Rick Mayoh. “I consider myself very fortunate.”

Stoqua went on to contribute to Carleton’s athletics program in many ways over the years. He worked to bring back the dormant Ravens football program, helping to renew connections with alumni and establish new business relationships.

He sold sponsorships to local businesses, found supporters for the Ravens Locker Campaign to contribute to the team’s operating budget, and he initiated golf tournament and fundraising dinners, as well as a popular Ravens donor clinic for Canadian Blood Services.

He also helped fundraise $150,000 in an endowment fund to provide three scholarships to Ravens basketball players each year in perpetuity, and was a long-time committee member for Carleton’s annual preseason House-Laughton Tournament.

Stoqua started into coaching at Merivale High School for basketball and with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in football. He later volunteered with the Goulbourn Basketball Association for a decade as a coach and as a director.

He coached girls’ and boys’ teams with Goulbourn, in both the house league and competitive ranks. He started the Hornets’ first girls’ competitive team and led a midget girls’ group to a third-place ranking in Ontario in 2006.

As an executive, Stoqua saw participation triple during his tenure, and he spurred the growth of the club’s competitive program from three teams to 13, drawing provincial recognition for his contribution to the development of basketball in Ontario.

“The life lessons we learned from you about hard work, determination, confidence, commitment, keeping a positive mindset, teamwork, accountability, leadership, and self-awareness were invaluable,” former player Morgan Roesler writes to Stoqua. “The Goulbourn basketball program wouldn’t have blossomed and flourished the way it did without you as the coach and I’m so grateful to have been a part of it. I know I can speak for all my teammates when I say that I still look back fondly on my basketball memories and forever will. They’re some of my absolute favourites.”

Stoqua has also been a valuable volunteer for the Commissionaires Ottawa Open PGA Tour Americas event in recent years while serving as hospitality lead for VIPs, corporate sponsors and pro-am participants and helping to raise $100,000 for Soldier On in back-to-back years.

An avid golfer himself at Eagle Creek, Stoqua has won the senior club championship three times as well.

“Pat is the best all-around athlete I know,” underlines Lisgar teammate and long-time Ravens basketball coach Paul Armstrong. “Pat may have been a humble man, but I can attest that all those years ago, Pat brought fire, intensity, hard work and determination to his football and basketball – he was in a class by himself.”

MAY 28 OTTAWA SPORT HALL OF FAME INDUCTION EVENING

Tickets for the Wednesday, May 28th Induction Ceremony are now sold out!

In the lead-up to the banquet, full-length features on each of the inductees and honoured teams will be posted on the Hall’s website at OttawaSportHall.ca and shared through the Ottawa Sports Pages.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. See OttawaSportHall.ca/Sponsorship for more details.

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Contact:

Dave Best
Chair, Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame
Chair@OttawaSportHall.ca

About the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame:

The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization, which documents, curates and celebrates outstanding achievement in local sport heritage. The Sport Hall is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors to maintain and preserve our rich sporting legacies. Each year, the Hall of Fame Board receives nominations from the public and selects new inductees to be honoured in the Hall.