Murray Fried

Murray Fried, a lifelong resident of Kitchener, devoted his life to working with youth. Fried began coaching ice hockey in the early 1950s and in 1959 started the first Atom hockey team in Kitchener, later known as the Bauer Krauts which gained fame across North America for its competitive play and good sportsmanship. Fried coached the team for twenty-one years and managed the team for nine years, encompassing 2,020 games and winning 79 tournaments, Ontario Minor Hockey Association and league championships. Currently he keeps track of 600 Kraut Alumni members.

In 1975 he received a Life Membership in Kitchener Minor Hockey Association and in 1976 Fried was selected Waterloo Region Sports Executive of the Year. In 1984 he received twenty-five year Service Awards from the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association and the Ontario Hockey Association.

Fried was also a member of the Scouting Movement for over thirty-five years, including being a Cub and Scout Leader at the 11th Kitchener for twenty years. He was awarded a thirty-five year service pin, the “Medal of Merit”, and the “Bar to the Medal of Merit” for outstanding service to Scouting.

Fried also coached boy’s softball beginning in the 1950s and started Kitchener’s first Squirt Softball team in 1967. He started Kitchener Minor Softball in 1969 and he was their founding President. He coached the Kitchener Bantams to an Ontario Championship in 1970.

In 1996 Fried received the Sertoma Club “Service to Mankind Award” for significant and meritorious service to mankind. He was also a founder of the Don Hayes Hockey School; he serves on the Parade of History executive at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium; and he was a member of other sports and Scouting committees.

His working career in plastics spanned fifty years and he was awarded a Half Century Citation by the Plastic Pioneers of Canada.