top of page
A Life In Sport
A blog by Ian Hyde-Lay
About
ABOUT
Ian Hyde-Lay is a teacher who lives and works in Victoria, BC. He has been heavily involved in sport his entire life, as a player, coach, referee and administrator.
All Posts
Remembering "Weary"
Down Under, March 2018. I arrive in the Capital Territory, the manager of a high school rugby tour group. As part of our itinerary, we...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Nov 8, 20214 min read
Victoria Secret
February 1965. My love affair with sport is just beginning, even though I am barely seven years old. I remember it as the time my father,...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Sep 6, 20214 min read
The Pencil Box
Rummaging around in the storeroom a few weeks ago, quite by accident I come across it. Made of Indian teakwood, “it” is rectangular in...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Aug 17, 20214 min read
A Giant
May 26, 2017. Victoria, BC. A gorgeous, warm spring morning beckons. I pull into a parking space behind the gym at St. Michaels...
Ian Hyde-Lay
May 25, 20215 min read
A Crying Shame
The global pandemic drags on, into its sixteenth month. New surges and setbacks, all around the world, still outweigh promising vaccine...
Ian Hyde-Lay
May 18, 20214 min read
Who Is That Guy?
November 6 at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. The final whistle blows. Mercifully, the 1999 Rugby World Cup reaches a conclusion,...
Ian Hyde-Lay
May 12, 20214 min read
Lions Legend
The time draws nigh. There is anticipation, conjecture, and debate. Just two days remain until the official announcement of the 37...
Ian Hyde-Lay
May 3, 20214 min read
Caribbean Queen
A bright and relaxing Sunday morning. I sit at home, by the kitchen window. Nursing a coffee, looking out across the bay. In my own...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Mar 26, 20214 min read
Marathon Man
It is a badge of honour, and it traces back centuries. It confirms that, in completing a particular, grueling long distance run, one must...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Mar 19, 20213 min read
Humble Pie
March 8, 2021. It is International Women’s Day, and this gets me thinking. Thinking back to events fifty plus years ago, thinking of a...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Mar 9, 20214 min read
Gone, But Not Forgotten
Saturday, late October 1995. I struggle awake, groggy with jet lag following a long flight from Vancouver. Foggy after an unsettled...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Mar 1, 20214 min read
Lockdown
Springtime. The war is finally over. 21 years old, he demobs from the Royal Navy. Not sure what the future may hold, he departs England,...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Feb 1, 20214 min read
One Word
The clock ticks on a high school coaching career closing in on fourty years. I am blessed, been given a box seat to countless memorable...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Dec 18, 20204 min read
Croatian Joe
It was just before Christmas, years and years ago, at a cozy pub in northern Vancouver Island. When gatherings, minus Covid masks, social...
Ian Hyde-Lay
Dec 13, 20203 min read
Don't Widen the Plate
He is neatly dressed, other than for the fact a full sized, stark white home plate hangs by a cord from his neck.
Ian Hyde-Lay
Oct 29, 20204 min read
Helping Hand
It was there that he first met the man who was to have a massive impact and influence on his life.
Ian Hyde-Lay
Oct 23, 20204 min read
Nella Fantasia
Nella Fantasia is the result. Timeless, it touches a nerve with its dreams of love and peace and hope.
Ian Hyde-Lay
Oct 2, 20203 min read
Father and Son
Yet, sights, sounds and memories from the former British crown colony remain etched firmly in my mind.
Ian Hyde-Lay
Aug 29, 20204 min read
Heavy Weight
Sundays are totally different....And so, firsthand, I get to experience faith and family, the cornerstones of Samoan life.
Ian Hyde-Lay
Aug 11, 20203 min read
Portuguese Treasure
Indeed, the Portuguese have a word “fado”, that translates literally as fate.
Ian Hyde-Lay
Jul 13, 20203 min read
bottom of page