Few people wearing Acadia colours have enjoyed the kind of success that Ed Gataveckas did during his tenure as a member of the football Axemen.
A linebacker under legendary head coaches Bob Vespaziani and John Huard, Gataveckas was a member of the 1979 CIAU championship Axemen. He was named an AUAA All-Star each year from 1977 to 1980 and was AUAA Defensive Player-of-the-Year in his last season at Acadia.
Gataveckas was a two-time CIAU All-Canadian, in 1979 and 1980, and a third round draft pick of the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos in 1980, but signed as a free agent with Hamilton prior to the 1981 season. Gataveckas played 10 years in Hamilton, from 1981 to 1990, winning a Grey Cup in 1986.
One of several Toronto-area players recruited by Vespaziani in the mid-1970s, Gataveckas attended Humberside CI Collegiate Institute and played on a high school team that won three championships during his time there.
He arrived at Acadia in 1976, graduating in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in psychology and math. As a linchpin of Acadia’s outstanding defensive corps, Gataveckas, at six-feet, 215 pounds, was a very physical presence on Acadia teams that featured timely offense and tough defense.
Gataveckas was a member of Acadia teams that went to the CIAU finals in 1976 and 1977. In 1979, he was part of John Huard’s Vanier Cup-winning team that captured Acadia’s first-ever national title with a 34-12 win over Western.
He was a member of the Can-Am Bowl squad that squared off against the U.S. after the 1977 season and was chosen in October 2005 as a member of Acadia’s all-decade team for the 1970s (linebacker), which included other such luminaries as Mark Moors, Bill Little, Bob Cameron, Don Ross, Bob Stracina, Hubert Walsh, Marv Allemang, Scott Baker, Al Charuk and Keith Skiffington to name a few.
Gataveckas met his wife Heather (’79) at Acadia and they have two children, Brittany and Noah (‘07). He has taught at Meadowvale Secondary School in Mississauga for the past 25 years and coached high school football at Meadowvale as well.
The Acadia Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to induct, in the athlete category, AUAA all-star, AUAA Defensive Player of the Year and 1979 CIAU championship-winning member of the Acadia football Axemen, Ed Gataveckas.
