“He was a builder like no other” – so said former Purple Knight and Honoured Member of the Sports Hall of Fame, Joyce Slipp. He coached football for 24 years, basketball for 27, and track and field for 33. As an accredited international basketball official he helped raise the skills of his fellow referees in New Brunswick.

He provided additional leadership to sport camps, Canada Games teams, softball associations and Legion programs and projects. He still found time to be a superb physical educator, intramural sport promoter, community leader, hospital volunteer and family man.

A native of Sommerville, Mass., “Coach” took up residence in Moncton in 1957. He has been honoured by many for his work with young athletes. He is now recognized for a life-time of dedication to sport itself.

In addition, it was Skiffington who gave the Purple Knights their name, in the process becoming one of the first high schools in the province to officially adopt a team name.

Enrolled in the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame, June 5th, 2004

On behalf of the Moncton High School Legacy Campaign Committee I would like to thank you, the alumni, community partners and parents for your time in reviewing our project. We feel this project will provide an excellent resource for Moncton High school as well as for Greater Moncton.

The project is to bring about the ‘Ed Skiffington Alumni Field’ to the school. Moncton High has had a long standing tradition of athletics in our great province. This tradition of excellence started many years ago under the founder of New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association Mr. Ed Skiffington. Mr. Skiifington taught most of his career at Moncton High but will always be remembered as the pioneer to athletics in New Brunswick high schools. At the old school we had a field that was minimal at best and it was our hope that with the new school and with a better facility that the field would be much improved. Unfortunately, this was not what transpired and we are now moving in this direction to rectify the situation.

It’s important to know that the demographics of the Greater Moncton community have changed over the years and Moncton High, unlike many of its formative years includes many underprivileged families, as well as the largest International cohort in the district. Included within this cohort would be new immigrants to Canada, including refugee families. This dynamic makes our school very diverse and our needs are plenty to say the least.

As you are probably aware the City of Moncton has a reciprocal agreement with Anglophone East School District and because of this, the facility we are raising money for will not just go to supporting Moncton High students but in turn will be a wonderful resource for all citizens of Moncton. Whether it is minor soccer, minor football or adult recreational leagues it will be a huge benefit to the community. This will allow the city and province an added facility to host National and International events.

The success of our ‘Legacy Campaign’ will depend on the generous donations of our alumni, community members and parents. The scope of the project will range from two to two point two-five million dollars. We currently have commitments of up to one point six million with a goal of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars of additional fundraising.

We fully understand that many of you give so much to the community already, but we really need your support with this project. With eighty plus years of alumni, I’m confident that we can make this project a huge success.