Scholarship honours the memory of Gino Fracas

Calling it "the most meaningful way to honour his legacy," members of Gino Fracas' 1969 championship football team announced the creation of the Gino Fracas Memorial Football Scholarship.

 

Lineman Nick Cicchini, an education student, and quarterback Sam Malian, a kinesiology student, are the first recipients of the $3,500 award, which is dedicated to student-athletes who demonstrate success in both spheres.

 

Fracas was the founding coach of Lancer football and served as a professor of human kinetics for 28 years. He died October 29, 2009, just days after returning from Las Vegas for a reunion with members of that 1969 team.

 

John Purcell (BPE 1970, MHK 1974) played on that team and was one of a group to spearhead the scholarship endowment. He said his teammates had contributed about $45,000, and it's time to launch a broader-based fundraising drive.

 

"We want to reach all across Canada to all the places where Gino exerted his influence," Purcell said.

 

Current Lancer football head coach Mike Morencie said the scholarship is "a tremendous memorial to a tremendous guy." He called on the recipients to understand the honour of being associated with the Fracas name.

 

Malian said he didn't need Morencie's reminder to be humbled: "Coach Fracas meant so much, not only to football but to the university and the Windsor community."

 

To donate to the Gino Fracas Memorial Football Scholarship, contact Fedela Falkner at 519-253-3000, ext. 4141, or e-mail ffalkner@uwindsor.ca.