‘Everything he did was outstanding’: Antonini reflects on loss of Kelly Hamilton

The loss of Kelly Hamilton has had a huge impact on those close to him, especially one of his closest friends.

The tributes have been pouring in for the 62-year-old former president of Regina Minor Football (RMF), who died recently after a battle with cancer.

Len Antonini, the executive director of RMF, has been close with Hamilton for most of their lives. He says the impact his friend had on football in the province knows no limits.

“Everything he did was outstanding,” Antonini said. “I don’t think you’ll find anybody that didn’t like him.

“His family was his No. 1. He was a great father and a great husband. It’s a tough tough time for everyone. He was too young to go, but I guess that’s life.”

Hamilton and Antonini were enshrined together in the Regina Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 for their work with RMF.

Both men played pivotal roles in not only building a great football program in Regina but modernizing Leibel Field.

“(Hamilton) was our (RMF) president for 19 years,” Antonini said. “When you look at the legacy of RMF, we have guys calling and asking me how we do things. They say we’re the envy of minor football across Canada, and I think (Hamilton) was a big, big part of that.”

Antonini says after Hamilton’s passing on Monday, there were plans for a meeting and there was no chance that it could be cancelled.

“We didn’t cancel it, because we knew if he cancelled it, he would come back to haunt us,” Antonini said with a chuckle. “He wouldn’t want us to not do things because of him.

“That’s that’s just the way he was.”

Hamilton played junior football with the Regina Rams, then tried out for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. He joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and played one game with them in 1983 and three games in 1984.

He subsequently spent 28 years with the Regina fire department, rising to the rank of captain before retiring.

Antonini — who played high school and junior football with Hamilton — said he hopes his friend is always remembered fondly.

“Everything he did, he did at 100 per cent,” Antonini claimed. “He was one of the nicest guys you would have ever met.”