Jack Stover was born in Kingston, Ontario in 1939, and growing up, he could always be found in the arena in the winter and on the baseball diamond in the summer. In 1958, after playing his final year as a Jr. B hockey player in Kingston, Jack attended Ryerson College where he graduated and shortly thereafter moved to Port Colborne to start a new chapter in his life. Jack then played hockey for the Port Colborne Intermediate ‘A’ Sailors for several years, where the team won the Ontario Championship in the 1961-1962 season.
After his playing days, Jack became involved in the development of youth sport through refereeing, umpiring, coaching and administration with both Port Colborne Minor Baseball and Port Colborne Minor Hockey. In 1973, Jack organized the Team Port Colborne Hockey Committee that worked with the Port Colborne Lions Club, Ontario Minor Hockey Association, and many levels of government to take a young Bantam all-star hockey team to Sweden for an overseas hockey tournament. Following this in 1975-1976, Team Port Colborne hosted a reciprocal visit for the Swedish Bantam team to play in Port Colborne against other Niagara hockey teams. From 1976-1979, Jack and the Team Port Colborne Hockey Committee operated the Jr. ‘C’ Hockey team, where they won several Niagara District Championships. Following this, the team moved to the Jr. ‘B’ league, where Jack coached and managed the team for several years. Jack then turned his focus to minor sports in Port Colborne. From 1980-1983, he organized and operated summer hockey camps at the west side arena for all ages and skill levels. In 1989, He and the Team Port Colborne Committee formed Gravelly Bay Minor Sports, which partnered with the Port Colborne Lions Club to run the minor hockey program in Port Colborne. Gravelly Bay Minor Sports continued to fundraise and provide support to many groups in Port Colborne, including Port Colborne Minor Baseball, Port Colborne Girls Softball Association, and Port Colborne Special Olympics Ontario.
