Jack Bionda dominated lacrosse in the 1950s and early 1960s like no other athlete. Each year he played a full season, he was the league’s scoring champion. And every time he was moved to a new team, he led his team to the BC championship. Bionda was more than an asset to his team, he turned good teams into great teams.
Thanks to his unsurpassed skills, the Victoria Shamrocks and the New Westminster Salmonbellies swept the Mann Cup Canadian championships in 1955, 1957, and 1958.
But 1959 was the Jack Bionda year. He led the Salmonbellies to their second Mann Cup, he was named the Mann’s Cup’s most valuable player and he received the Mike Kelly medal as the most outstanding player in the series. That year he scored an unbelievable 70 goals and added 74 assists, totaling an amazing 144 points.
Bionda’s winning streak continued in 1960 when he won the scoring championship for the Nanaimo Timberwolves at the BC championship cup. In 1962, he led the Salmonbellies to the Canadian championship and for the second time was named the Mann’s Cup’s MVP.
Before his retirement in 1966, he played his last full season and once again won the scoring championship. Besides induction into the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Bionda is a member of five other Halls of Fame including the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.