Delmer (Del) Rints
Builder – Hockey
Photo Credit: Dasha Balcom Photography
Del Rints was born in the Township of Mulmur, Ontario in 1936, and he moved to Whitby with his family in 1942. Del has resided in Whitby since that time, and he graduated from Whitby High School in 1954. He is an avid sports fan, with his deepest passion reserved for hockey. This began at an early age and has endured for several decades. Del played minor hockey as a goaltender in Taylor’s Arena on Gilbert Street and was a devoted fan of the original Whitby Dunlops during that team’s tenure in our town.
In 1985, Del was appointed co-director of three hockey tournaments: Jim Johnson Memorial, Iroquois, and Whitby Optimist Club. He shared this role with his wife, Gloria, who also held a volunteer position of Tournament Director for the Whitby Minor Hockey Association (WMHA). In 1987, International Silver Stick sanctioned Whitby to host a tournament, and the Iroquois tournament was thus renamed that same year. This Silver Stick competition is an invitational event intended to promote camaraderie and international goodwill through the sport of hockey. It is held in November, and it has been awarded annually to Whitby ever since.
Del was elected to the Silver Stick Board or Directors in 1992 and served as its Commissioner from 2001 to 2003. In 1996, he introduced a plaque, displayed in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, to depict the names of the various International Silver Stick Champions for that year, and he maintains this practice by replacing the plaque with a new updated version each year.
The tournament was renamed The Gloria Rints Memorial Silver Stick Hockey Tournament after Gloria’s passing in September 1994, with Del continuing to serve as its Director to this day. His responsibilities as Tournament Director are both varied and extensive:
- Marketing the event
- Recruitment of tournament volunteers
- Processing registrations for all teams/players
- Creating the game schedules for all age divisions
- Securing the arenas, officials, and timekeepers (10 pads)
- Overseeing all tournament vendors and souvenir vendors
- Securing all hotel availability (Whitby, Ajax, Oshawa, Pickering, Markham)
- Dealing with any day-to-day issues that might arise during the tournament
- Management of a lounge area for hockey scouts (introduced in 2023)
- Reconciliation of all revenues and expenditures
- Preparing a financial report for the Silver Stick Committee and Whitby Minor Hockey
Under Del’s leadership, participation in the tournament has grown to 120+ teams across four age groups: U10, U12, U14, and U16. Teams travelling to Whitby represent Ontario, Quebec, Western Canada, and the United States, thus producing a positive economic impact for Whitby and Durham Region and bringing acclaim to Whitby from the hockey community at large.
Del has often been recognized over the years for his volunteerism. He received an award from the Whitby Optimist Club in 2001 for his service to the community, and in 2012, was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2022, Del became the initial recipient of the International Silver Stick Commissioner’s Award.
Del remarried in 1996, and he and Lise-Marie enjoy spending time with family, including Del’s three children, 10 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren.