Inducted October 18, 1997
Dr. William “Bill” Redden, for the past 35 years, has made a significant contribution to the sports of Tennis and Basketball as an Athlete and a Builder. He arrived in St. John’s in 1962 from his native Nova Scotia, via Labrador City, where he was a high school physical education teacher. He was recruited by Riverdale Tennis Club as a coach for their summer program. Under his guidance, the number of juniors registered at Riverdale expanded from 60 to several hundred. He coached the Newfoundland Junior Team at several national competitions and also coached the Memorial University Ladies Tennis Team to the Atlantic Intercollegiate Tennis Championship.
As a tennis player, Bill was one of the best to ever play in Newfoundland. His style in executing the serve, volley, and ground strokes were technically perfect. As a result, he has been Newfoundland Singles Champion, Doubles Champion, and Mixed Doubles Champion. In 1968, he won the Newfoundland Open Triple Crown Championship.
It is in the game of Basketball, however, where he has excelled. He dedicated the past 30 years to playing, officiating, coaching, and administering. As a result of his playing ability, he was inducted into the St. John’s Basketball Hall of Fame. He has coached over 50 teams in Basketball from youth, junior high, high school, university, senior, and Canada Games. As a result of his dedication to coaching, he was awarded in 1993 the Canada 125th Anniversary Award for Community Service.
Bill is also the founder of the St. John’s and Newfoundland Basketball Officials Association. He was instrumental in the development of the high quality basketball officials we have today. For his contribution to officiating in Newfoundland, Bill was awarded the Wink Wilcox Award in 1990, presented by the Canadian Association of Basketball Officials.
He was Director of the School of Physical Education and Athletics at Memorial University from 1994-1997, and as such, guided the development of the Professional Preparation and Service Program of the University.
There is no doubt that, as a result of his dedication to the games of tennis and basketball, Bill Redden has made a significant contribution to the development of sportsmanship in the youth of Newfoundland and Labrador and is worthy to be inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.
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