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Born in Surry in 1977, Donnie was two when his family moved to Brentwood Bay. When Donnie turned six, his dad, Don Sr., took him to the Jaycee Boxing Club where he learned the basics, including jump rope, exercises, shadow boxing and hitting the heavy bag. At age 11, Donnie joined the Victoria Athletic Association (VAA) Boxing Club and started serious training with his father and Mike Caird. "Donnie Boy" started competing and winning around B.C and, by 1994, he was a Golden Gloves, Silver Gloves, Emerald Gloves and Diamond Belt Champion and won a Silver medal at the Canadian Championships.
After taking time out for high school, Donnie started training again in 1998 at VAA with Don Sr, Mike Caird and Ian Weir coaching him. During that year, Donnie won Gold at the Provincial Championships and was awarded the Best Boxer and Best Bout trophies. Also in 1998, he won Gold at the International Blue & Gold tournament in Los Angeles and was awarded the Most Outstanding Boxer for all weight divisions among 320 fighters. He finished the year winning a Silver medal at the National Championships in Sudbury, Ontario.
In 1999, Donnie repeated as Provincial Champion and Golden Gloves Champion, as well as being voted Best Boxer for both those tournaments. At the Canadian Championships, he won the Silver medal and shared the trophy for Best Bout. To cap off the year, Donnie won the Canadian Olympic Trials at Halifax, which earned him a spot on the Canadian team.
The year 2000 saw Donnie travelling to Tampa, Florida for the Americas Olympic Qualifying tournament, where he won the Silver medal and qualified for the Sydney Olympics. Unfortunately, Donnie was badly cut in his first bout at the Olympics and the referee had to stop the contest. During the 2001 season, Donnie won Gold at the Canadian Championships and was selected as Canadian Team Captain. He won Bronze at the Francophone Games in Quebec City and placed 5th at the World Championships in Belfast, Ireland. The Province of B.C. recognized his accomplishments with the Premier's Award of Excellence for 2001.
From 2002-2004, Donnie took time away from boxing and worked on his apprenticeship as a pipe-fitter until, in 2005, he moved to Las Vegas to train for a professional boxing career under Richard Steele (Boxing Hall of Fame referee). "Donnie Boy" had matches in Las Vegas, Boston, California and New York, and credits Steele as a great influence on his pro career which Donnie finished with 15 wins and one loss.
"Donnie Boy" retired from boxing in June 2010. He now resides in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife, Zonia, and 10-year old daughter, Bailey. Donnie's late mother, Ruth, was a huge influence on him and always stayed positive through the ups and downs of his boxing career. As one of Canada's best boxers ever, Donnie Orr is truly deserving of his place in the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
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Growing up in Victoria, Bobby Ross was a multi-sport athlete, playing high school rugby, basketball and soccer, as well as baseball outside school. He was part of an extraordinary 1st XV at St. Michaels University School that went 14-0 in his final year and was the Vancouver Island Single A basketball MVP on a championship team.
Shortly after graduation, he was selected to the Canadian Junior Baseball Team and competed in the World Junior Championships in 1987, batting .376 as Canada won the Bronze medal. A college baseball scholarship took him to Washington State for a year, but rugby lured him home, where he played for the University of Victoria (UVic) and captained the Canadian Junior Team to Wales in 1988. In his first game for UVic against UBC in the famous "Boot" rivalry, he stroked a 55m drop goal at the death to win the game!
First capped in Victoria at inside centre against Ireland in 1989 at 20 years of age, Bobby went on to become one of the finest rugby players ever to play for Canada. He was capped 57 times between 1989 and 2003 and, throughout his playing years, he was a prodigious kicker of punts, drop kicks, conversions and penalty goals, scoring 421 test points which ranked him as Canada's third all-time scorer. On retirement, he was ranked 14th all-time in international rugby scoring. A versatile player, he was capped in the centre, wing and fullback positions but spent the majority of his career at fly half, where he read the game beautifully.
Bobby began his rugby career with the Castaways and, during his UVic years, was l989 Junior Varsity Athlete of the Year. He played with the famed James Bay Athletic Association through six Island and four Provincial titles and was four-time club MVP. He played for both Junior and Senior Crimson Tide and Team BC. Against Wales in 1997, a 56m drop goal at the opening kickoff plus a try in that game earned him a professional contract with Cardiff in the Welsh Premier League, playing in the European (Heineken) Cup, and helping pioneer Canadians in the European game. An injury in the Welsh Cup final ended his pro career but Bobby continued playing domestically and for Canada.
He captained the Canadian Under 19, Under 21 and Senior Men's teams and was once capped for all three in the same year. He represented Canada in three World Cups (1995, 1999, 2003), set the Canadian record for drop goals that still stands and is the all-time Pacific Rim Championships scoring leader. Always a team player, he came out of retirement for the 2003 World Cup and, in his last game for Canada, Bobby was named Man of the Match. Bobby has been inducted into the BC Rugby Hall of Fame and is honoured and humbled to be inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
