Bob Scrader

Coach Bob Schrader has led numerous Local, Provincial, and International athletes to levels of success they previously had only dreamed of. His keen eye and insight helped to improve his athletes and the game overall.

Much of Bob’s coaching activity surrounded wheelchair track and field sport, where he led athletes to attain world records as well as world Paralympic medals. Bob wrote training plans for his athletes and attended each training session, 6 days per week. His belief in his athletes built their confidence and taught them to believe in themselves and to pursue their full potential. In 1998 he started the largest track team with varied abilities in Ontario. Bob shared his insight into the optimal positioning of an athlete’s hands on the wheelchair rims with coaches and their competitors around the world, earning him great respect as a peer and leader.

The other area of interest for Coach Bob was in hockey in Leeds Grenville. He focused on things that others seemed unaware of, including ensuring that goalies were given as much attention as other players. When he started coaching hockey in Kemptville and beyond he tried to make his practices work not only for the players but also for the goalies, bringing them into the play and teaching where their focus should be – not just in the net, expected to stop everything shot at them – but on all of the play.
Bob coached the Kemptville Panthers, the Kings and the summer team that he put together, the AAA Kemptville Wild.

Bob’s summer goalie camps were extremely popular amongst Kemptville goalies and into Ottawa West. They ran for eight years and were not always easy to organize as the camp required a number of volunteers to help every Sunday. From this camp there were a number of goalies that wanted one-on-one coaching. Bob rented ice in Kemptville early mornings before school started as well as after school in order to make that extra coaching available to them.

Bob gave 36 years to wheelchair sport and 15 years to hockey, sacrificing his time and efforts to lead athletes to the top of their game. He sat on the Executive Board for many of the organizations he was involved including the Kemptville District Minor Hockey Association, the Kings, Ottawa Lions, Ontario CP Association, Canadian CP Association, Ontario Wheelchair Association, Canadian Wheelchair Association and the International Paralympic Association.

Awards over the years include the Builders Award, CP Sport Association of Ontario; Coach of the Year from the Ontario Wheelchair Sport Association; and years of recognition for his coaching at the international level with the Ottawa Lions, as well as the 3M Coaching Award (1996, 2000 and 2004).

From his start at a local level coaching wheelchair sport, leading to his attaining Level III Coaching status, Bob Schrader was able to finally end his career as an International coach with the respect of many around the world.