As part of W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council’s mandate to promote respect for W̱SÁNEĆ culture, traditional practices, and language, W̱LC regularly highlights the accomplishments of our many exceptional community members. In this post, we celebrate and acknowledge a community member who became a soccer legend: Dan(iel) “the Hawk” Henry.
Henry holds a trophy after Winning 1st National championship in 1979
Henry of Pauquachin First Nation was born on September 29, 1951, to Dorothy and Herman Henry, a World War 2 veteran. He has a beautiful, blended family; his children are Gary Henry, Marcia Henry, Marissa Jim, and Mataya Jim, and he raised Brandon Mitchell and Jaron Mitchell. He has several grandchildren who are his pride and joy.
As the oldest of 10 children, Henry’s childhood can be described as full of love, family, and community. But no description of his childhood would be complete without mention of his family’s favourite pastime: soccer.
Henry’s father, Herman, was a world-class soccer player, playing on several Victoria All-Star Teams and even captaining a team to victory against Fulham FC, a touring team from England, two times. He shared his passion with Henry and his siblings, playing with them regularly and pushing them to be the best they could be. While Herman was tough, it came from a good place. Having grown up in an era of pervasive racism, he would say, “I just want a better life for you than it was for me, and I want you to do the same for your kids and your grandchildren.”
Herman was particularly invested in Henry’s growth as a goalscorer. As Henry tells it, “My dad wanted me to be a goalscorer – he used to give me $1 for every goal I scored, and $1 was a lot of money back then. That was my inspiration to do more.”
As Henry got older and went to residential school, his dad encouraged him to use his time at home to play. Unsatisfied with the competition in Sidney, Herman signed Henry up to play with Gorge in Victoria. After working long days in Duncan, Herman would trek home to Sidney to pick up Henry, drive Henry to practice in Victoria, and sleep in the car until it was time to go home.
While Henry was initially benched in Gorge, it only took one game to convince the team to put him in the starting lineup. In Henry’s words, “one day they subbed me on and put me on the field, and I scored a hat trick, so I never sat on the bench again.”
Once Gorge folded, Henry went on to play at Vic West. He stayed with Vic West through the late 70’s and early 80’s during the team’s golden era. At the time, Vic West was known for its local talent. Where other successful teams were made up of all-stars drawn from around the world, Vic West was made up of local players from the Victoria area, like Henry.
During his time with Vic West, Henry supported many significant wins for the team, even earning himself the nickname “the Hawk” for his consistent ability to score goals. In a particularly noteworthy moment on May 24th, 1981 that is still remembered by fans today, Henry scored twice during overtime, securing a 2-0 victory in the BC Soccer Adult Provincial Cup at Norbrock Stadium in Kamloops.
Henry considers this moment one of his most important soccer memories, not only because of the hard-earned win, but because of the role his dad played in it.
According to Henry, Vic West was the underdog going into the game. Fans picked Croatia to beat Vic West in the first game and picked the Vancouver Firefighters to win the final. It was blistering hot – nearly 100 degrees – and, while Vic West won the first game, the second game went the entire 90 minutes without a single score. But, his mom, dad and sister were in the stands.
With overtime looming, Henry’s dad walked onto the field. As Henry describes it:
After the 90 minutes was over, my trainer said ‘Danny, your dad is coming onto the field.’ My dad walked up to me and said ‘Danny, I’ll give you $20 a goal!’
Then he went back to his seat. In the first overtime, I scored, bringing the score to 1-0. I was screaming to get off the field because I was cramping in the heat wave, but we didn’t have any subs so I had to stay on. So, I stayed on, and for some reason in the second half a ball went through and I scored again, bringing the score to 2-0. We won the best amateur soccer team in BC.
At the end of the game, I had totally forgotten that my dad said he would give me $20 a goal. He ran across the field and he had $40 in his hand. I said ‘Dad, no! I don’t want your $40.’ But he gave it to me. I’ll never, ever, ever forget that.
Henry also supported a 5-0 win in the 1979 BC Cup, a 2-1 win in the 1980 Cup, a 1-0 win in the 1982 Cup, and a 3-0 win in the 1984 Cup. From there, he helped the team win the Western Conference three times, going on to win the national title each year – in 1979, 1982, and 1984.
Vic West’s success is unmatched by any other amateur soccer team in BC’s history. To honour these accomplishments, the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame inducted Vic West in 1996. Henry and the many wins earned by the team during his tenure are highlighted in the induction bio. Henry shared that, “It takes a lot of hard work and 100 miles of running.”
Henry is clear that these successes are due to the team’s collective efforts. He shared that, while he was a goalscorer and “had a knack for being at the right place at the right time,” no win would have been possible without all 11 players. In fact, Henry considered his team his family. “We stuck together,” he said. “A lot of us grew up together. We just got to know each other and, as one of our captains said, we were a family.”
When asked about his greatest individual success in soccer, he describes it as “his passion and love for the game.” “There wasn’t one event, game, or title,” he continued, “it was the love that I had for the game and the guys on the team.” “Along with that,” says Henry, “all of the success fell into place.”
Henry and the entire Vic West team, 1979.
Henry’s exceptional talent for sport was well recognized throughout the community, and he became a role model and inspiration for countless W̱SÁNEĆ youth, even coaching young soccer players towards the end of his career. When coaching, he told the kids there are four things one has to do when playing soccer: sweat, run, work hard, and have fun. Henry sees coaching as an opportunity to prepare youth for successful lives. He shared:
We should be doing what we can to keep our kids involved in sports. It’s a real teaching tool for getting into business and doing what we need to do, and it keeps you healthy.
Thanks to the encouragement of his dad, Henry made time amidst his soccer success to pursue his dream of becoming an Administrator for Tribes. He obtained a certificate from Camosun College and has served as an Administrator on and off since 1986. Even in this new role, Henry leveraged all that he learned as a soccer player to make a difference for the community.
In addition to his work as an Administrator for Tseycum and Pauquachin, he served as an advisor for First Nation’s students at Camosun College, the Executive Director for Native Participation in the 1994 Commonwealth Games, Director of Programs and Services for Songhees, Indigenous Manager for South Island Primary Care Network, and a Representative and Co-Chair for the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) Council. Unable to keep himself from another win, Henry even participated in the original 1990 NAIG games in Edmonton, earning a gold medal in the golf category – a sport he’d only recently learned, but quickly mastered.
These days, Henry is enjoying a well-deserved retirement, but not without small breaks for ongoing community service. At the time of this interview, he was completing a contract to support Tsawout. And as should come as no surprise, he is still working out, staying fit, and enjoying life.
W̱LC celebrates Henry’s remarkable life, his contributions to sports, his family, and the greater community.
To learn more about W̱SÁNEĆ’s many exceptional community members, be sure to check out W̱LC’s collection of community profiles:
Community Profile: SX̱EDŦELISIYE (Renee J. Sampson)
Community Profile: W̱SÁNEĆ’s Beangka Elliott
Community Profile: W̱SÁNEĆ’s ŚW̱,XELOSELWET Tiffany Joseph
Community Profile: W̱SÁNEĆ’s John Etzel Jr.
Community Profile: Tsawout’s YELḰÁTŦE (Rob Clifford), Ph.D. Law Student
Then, make sure to subscribe to W̱LC’s newsletter to stay in the loop about community news, initiatives, and events.
