Thomas VanNatter Narrative
Tom was born in Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie and raised on Houden Street in Elmvale. He attended Huronia Centennial Elementary School and it was here, around the age of 10, that Tom fell in love with sports playing baseball, track and field, cross country and finding his real passion…hockey. Tom would play Minor hockey in Elmvale all the way from Novice to Bantam until he departed (at 15 years of age) to Penetang to play JR C with the Kings. Tom left Elmvale at the age at 16 to pursue his dream of playing in NHL and played JR B in Thornhill. At the age of 17 he was drafted to the OHL Belleville Bulls and played with future NHL players Darren Pang, Dan Quinn and Marty McSorley. Tom was traded to the Sudbury Wolves the following season and would finish the year with the North York Rangers winning the Jr A Centennial Cup (RBC National Championship) against Abbottsford, BC. In 1984 Tom returned home and played for the Orillia Travelways and returned to the Jr A Centennial Cup Finals (RBC National Championship) but this time losing in a heart-breaking Game 7 against Weyburn, SK.
After a successful Junior career Tom attended York University where he studied Economics and was a member of the Varsity Men’s Hockey team coached by renowned Dave Chambers. Tom had great success from 1985-88 winning three consecutive Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships. Finally, in 1988 Tom won the Canadian Intercollegiate Sports (U Sports) National Championship at Varsity stadium against Western University.
In 1989, Tom attended OHIO University in Athens OH on a hockey scholarship where he completed his Masters in Sports Administration. Coming home in 1990, Tom met his future wife Deborah Griffith of Toronto, who was also an athlete at McMaster University, and entered the Pharmaceutical business. As of 2018, Tom has worked and excelled at Apotex Inc, Canada’s largest Pharmaceutical company, for over 25 years as the National Director of Corporate Sales. Tom and Deb live in Springwater, Ontario and have two wonderful boys Luke and Wes. Both of his boys played Minor Hockey in Barrie, with Tom often as the Coach.
At the age of 54, Tom still plays hockey 2-3 times a week, competes in Wilderness Traverse races, skis and enjoys his new passion, Golf, which has taken him around the world playing Pebble Beach, Whistling Straits to St Andrews in Scotland.
Tom feels he was very lucky to have lived and grown up in Elmvale which provided him a strong foundation to pursue all his life goals and athletic passions …especially hockey.
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