Leible Hershfield (1909-1999)

Athlete.

Born in Zhitomer, Russia, he moved to Winnipeg with his family in 1910. A natural athlete, he played most sports well and excelled at several, including track and field, soccer, and softball. He played softball for the YMHA teams from the age of 15, and later boasted that for 27 years he had played centre field without a glove. Spending most of his working life with the YMHA, he taught hundreds of children and adults how to swim. In 1969 he was selected Jewish athlete of the half-century and, in 1970, he was awarded a Manitoba Centennial Medal by the Manitoba Historical Society. In 1981 was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. A sports columnist in later years for the Jewish Post, he wrote a survey of Jewish sports in Winnipeg entitled The Jewish Athlete: A Nostalgic View (1980).

Source:

Profile revised: 14 June 2009

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