Sarnia Sting President Bill “Aber” Abercrombie has announced that he will step away from the day-to-day responsibilities of team President as he transitions into an advisory role with the Hockey Club.
When the Newmarket Royals relocated to Sarnia to become the Sting in 1994, Abercrombie joined the Hockey Club and served as an Assistant Coach until 2002. During this period, he helped develop many of the organization’s early stars including Jon Sim and Trevor Letowski, who were both recognized as inaugural inductees in the Sting’s Hall of Fame earlier this year.
After his first tenure with the Sting, Abercrombie had a very successful stint coaching in Junior B. In 2007, he led the Sarnia Blast to a finals appearance and was named Coach of the Year before being inducted into the Lindsay District Sports Hall of Fame that spring. Abercrombie then became Head Coach of the Sarnia Legionnaires, capturing a Western Junior B Championship in 2009.
In 2010, Abercrombie made his return to the Sting as Vice President of Hockey Operations before being named the Club’s President in 2014. In this role Abercrombie worked closely with the Sting Hockey Operations Department while overseeing the Hockey Club’s business activities.
“Bill was instrumental in a successful transition when we took over the team in 2015. His business and hockey experience, connections and passion for this community laid the building blocks for our growth over the past seven seasons and I can’t thank him enough for his dedication.” comments Sting Owner David Legwand. “He has given this team, city and its sports community so much over his career and has positively impacted so many along the way. I want to congratulate Bill on his success and extend my appreciation for all he has done.”
As President, Abercrombie played pivotal roles in many of the Sting’s off-ice accomplishments. He was instrumental in completing the 2018 LED videoboard upgrade at Progressive Auto Sales Arena (PASA). Most recently, he led efforts that saw the Sting make significant investments into PASA that included renovations to the luxury suite level as well as the recent completion of the Sting’s dressing room project which created a new room in the south end of the rink for the team, a move which freed up space for three new community rooms in the Club’s old space between PASA’s two ice pads. Throughout his tenure with the Sting, Abercrombie also played a pivotal role in ensuring the Sting remain both visible and embedded in the Sarnia-Lambton community through his leadership and support of several of the Hockey Club’s outreach initiatives.
“Bill has been a phenomenal leader and mentor to many members of his team over the years. You always know he has your back and speaking personally I’m thankful for the many lessons he has taught me. We are grateful to have Bill remain with our organization in his advisory capacity as we continue to lean on his experience in the decisions we make going forward.” adds Sting Director of Marketing and Corporate Partnerships Jake Bourrie. “On behalf of the entire Sarnia Sting organization, we would like to congratulate Bill on a successful career on the ice, off the ice, and in the storefront. We thank him for his leadership and dedication to our team.”
