Because they’re surrounded by so much “negativity”, given the nature of the job, the province’s correctional officers are encouraged to participate in as many off-duty activities as they can, which is part of the celebrations of Corrections Week that runs May 6-12.
And sports certainly plays a big role in those activities as a number of current and retired correctional officers are some of the province’s finest athletes and coaches.
“There’s certainly a correlation to good physical health and good mental health,” said the province’s superintendent of prisons, Don Roche, who is no stranger to the sports field having an enjoyed an all-star softball and hockey career.
“Good physical health helps deal with the mental stress that can sometimes come about in this line of work,” he said.
“We have so many people who are involved with sports, and now a lot of those people have kids who are involved,” Roche said.
Perhaps it’s the close proximity to Quidi Vidi Lake, but correctional officers at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary have had, and continue to have, a big influence on the Royal St. John’s Regatta.
Diana Gibbons, the assistant superintendent of prisons, was a championship and record-setting rower, along with retired correctional officers Owen Devereaux, Sean Brophy, Paddy Dyer and the late Paul Boland. Current officers Darry Ryan and Ed Williams also enjoyed championships on Quidi Vidi Lake, and Danny Harte has been a Regatta mainstay for over 30 years, as an oarsmen and coxswain.
Daniel Dalton has played fastpitch softball at the national and international level, and won a Herder Memorial Trophy championship with the Conception Bay North CeeBee Stars.
Retired officer Peter Power has long been one of the province’s top long-distance runners; Ed O’Brien, who retired as assistant superintendent, is a former basketball great with an extensive coaching career in hockey, from major midget to Canada Games, junior A and major junior, and is currenting Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minor Council vice-chairman; the late Bob Jackman is a former local hockey icon who will be going into the Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador Hall of Fame next month.
There are also a quite a number of retired correctional officers who enjoyed lengthy senior hockey careers, and many who have enjoyed coaching careers, including Doug Jackman, who coached major midget hockey for many year and this season coached the AAA bantam St. John’s Hitmen; Steve Donahue, who guided the 2017 Canada Summer Games baseball team, and Steve Torraville, a former elite basketball player who is now heavily involved coaching the game.
“I coached for almost 30 years,” said Roche, who guided teams to the Herder championship, and coached Irving Cup bantam and Telus Cup midget hockey teams, in addition to U16 teams taking part in the QMJHL Challenge, “and I’ve gotten so much out of sports.
“I think it’s important to give back and believe me, you get back 10 more than you ever put into it.”
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