William Arthur Hawkins
March 30, 1961 - November 21, 2010
This past fall, the Vancouver Ultimate League lost a player, a leader and a dear friend. Art Hawkins, at the all too young age of 49, lost his battle with cancer in the early hours of November 21, 2010.
Biography
Art started playing Ultimate in Vancouver in 1991 as part of a team called The Farm Accidents. The Accidents were at the crest of a wave of players who took the VUL from 6 to over 100 teams in 1990s, and Art’s involvement with Ultimate grew right along with the league. As well as playing for the Accidents, he played on numerous FA Farm teams. He was an original member of Yo Yo Ma, played with the Haashbar and Flamingo crews and was involved with more VUL teams as a player, coach or captain than can be named.
Not just limited to league play, Art attended Regional, National and International events with a wide array of teams. As a member of the Farm Accidents, Art attended the 1999 WUCC in Scotland. He then went on to win the CUC Masters Division in 2000 and place 2nd in 2001. Art traveled to Hawaii for Worlds in 2002, where his team finished 6th.
As Art felt his on-field play slowing down, his off-field contributions grew substantially. Art was a member of the VULS Board of Directors, and then in 2008 was named Executive Director. As ED, Art was instrumental in pushing forward a number of VUL programs. He was also actively involved in strengthening the league’s clinic and mentoring programs, and increasing focus on junior development. Art spearheaded the creation of the VUL Annual Awards Banquet as a way of giving back to the many people who helped run the league as both staff and volunteers. Always happy to keep his cleats on the field, Art was a certified UPA observer. He worked all levels of the sport as an observer, including one UPA Finals and several CUCs.
Art was a strong supporter of charities and has run the annual Elimination 8’s tournament for the past several years. This tournament generates proceeds which are donated to the Vancouver Food Bank as well as other Vancouver charities. Art worked with Ultimate Canada to create the Great Canadian Ultimate Game, a 24 hour cross-Canada Ultimate game that raises money for Right to Play and Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada.
The Ultimate Community has truly benefited over the past 20 years from Art’s enthusiasm, hard work, dedication, leadership and most importantly, his Spirit. He will be forever missed.
Honors
On November 24th, 2010 at the Vancouver Ultimate League Society's AGM, the Board of Directors announced that the trophy given annually to the VUL Male 'Spirit of the Year' winner would be named the "William Arthur Hawkins Male Spirit Award".
On November 22nd, 2010, the Board of Directors of Ultimate Canada announced that the Great Canadian Ultimate Game would be renamed the "Arthur Hawkins Great Canadian Ultimate Game".
Remembering Art
During his treatment, Art received a significant amount of blood product as he battled his cancer. Donating blood and blood product such as plasma is an important way to give to those truly in need.
Canadian Blood Services has a program for people to donate blood "In Honour" of another. Find a clinic at which to donate. When you show up, say you are donating in someone's honour. They will give you a card. Fill it out in Art's name and send it to 5820 Cree Street, Vancouver BC, V5W2V9. We will have these cards collected and present them to Art’s family.
Art’s family would also encourage anyone and everyone to donate to Canadian Cancer Research.
