Athletes get the glory, but behind every NHL star and Little League legend are countless friends, fans and supporters who do their part, however small, to help them shine. For generations of cyclists, skaters, and hockey players growing up in Etobicoke, business owner Robert Bendera was such a helper.

Centennial Cycle and Sports, which opened in 1966 at the Rathburn and Renforth plaza, was a mecca for sports-loving kids of all ages.

“Bob represents the true spirit of what comprises Etobicoke,” said Alex Hall, a local parent who remembers walking into Bendera’s shop to get his son’s hockey skates sharpened. Bendera noticed something wrong with one of the skates, and even though Hall hadn’t bought them at his store, the generous shopkeeper replaced them free of charge.

“He said, ‘The kid can’t skate with these. This isn’t right,’” Hall said. “It wasn’t about profit, it was ‘how can I help the kids?’ I walked in with a used pair of skates to get sharpened, and I walked out with a new pair of skates, and a new appreciation for this man.” Such stories are no surprise to Bendera’s wife, Rosemary. “Bob was always willing to work with people who couldn’t afford to pay all at once. He believed in the good in people—a handshake was a person’s commitment to pay him,” Rosemary said. “That’s all he needed to the day he stopped working.”

Bendera opened his sporting goods store with a $5,000 loan from his mother, and 46 years later, business is going strong under the stewardship of his son, Darris—one of Bob and Rosemary’s four children—who took over when poor health forced the elder Bendera to step aside.

In the early days, Bendera sold hockey, baseball and lacrosse equipment, bicycles, skis, fishing gear, curling rocks—any and all things related to sports. Centennial’s core business evolved over time, eventually moving from skate sharpening and bike repair to exclusively providing promotional wear and team uniforms. Many thousands of local baseball and hockey teams, along with high school and elementary school athletes at dozens of schools, have worn uniforms supplied by Centennial. The tireless Bendera became a fixture at baseball fields and hockey arenas, his business card always at the ready. “Bob could meet you once and he would remember your name and treat you as though you were his best friend. Everybody loved his happy, outgoing demeanor. He made everybody feel special,” Rosemary said.

Bendera’s friends describe him as a generous man who quietly helped many young athletes through his store and his community and charitable involvement. “He was all about the community and giving back,” Hall said, adding that Bendera “bent over backwards” for his customers, never refusing a request for a prize donation, sponsorship contribution, raffle ticket sale, or helping hand. He didn’t seek accolades or recognition for himself. “His motto was, the kids come first,” Hall said. Bendera went so far as to purchase Toronto Maple Leafs season tickets and give many away to his grateful customers. “People trusted him—he was always a man of his word. No stone went unturned if he received an unusual request from a customer, and he was almost always able to fulfill that request,” Rosemary said.

The shop had a family atmosphere. Bendera had an obvious passion for local sports, and took a personal interest in the youngsters who frequented his store. Relationships mattered to him, and the young players who wore his uniforms or laced up skates from Centennial didn’t forget him either. National Hockey League players such as Mike Pelyk, Doug Gilmour, Steve Ludzik and Wendell Clark would drop by the store to say hello, as would the linesmen and referees – including Ron Wicks, Bruce Hood and John D’Amico – Bendera outfitted when the NHL and AHL held training camps at Centennial Arena. In an unusual brush with fame, Bendera once supplied the Rolling Stones with exercise equipment when they were in Toronto getting ready for a tour.

Bendera’s involvement in sports didn’t stop with his store. He played baseball as a young man and golfed at Brampton Golf Country Club, where he was a member. He and Rosemary started curling not long before Bob’s illness. Bendera kept up ice hockey twice a week into his 60s, and created Monday Night Hockey, a weekly, no-contact game among friends. Original Monday Nighters include NHL greats Ken Dryden, Mark Napier and Billy White. On the sidelines, Bob coached hockey for several years and helped organize an annual charitable golf tournament called “Man of the Year” that raised funds for The Hospital for Sick Children and families in need.

The High Park Baseball Association recently recognized Bendera with an award for many years of dedicated service to the organization. He was extremely honoured and proud to be a founding member of the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame board of governors, and now joins several of his friends and past clients as an inductee.

If not for his illness, Rosemary is sure that Bob, now 69 years old, would still be behind the counter at his store, doing his part to help out young athletes and the wider community, as well as cheering on his three hockey-playing grandsons from the arena bleachers.

“Bob is a good person who took great pride and joy in what he did. He found a lot of satisfaction in making people happy with his work,” Rosemary said. “People always asked when Bob would retire, and his reply was, ‘Why would I retire? I love what I do, I love the people we deal with. I love my job.’”

The Etobicoke sports community loved him right back.