William K.C. "Casey" Cook was born in The Hague, Holland in 1945 and his family moved to Burnaby, BC in 1950.

He graduated from Burnaby Central high school and played his junior lacrosse in
Coquitlam, played up for the senior Adanacs in 1966 and 1967, and played 14 games of
Senior for Coquitlam.

In 1969 he joined the New Westminster Blues of the Inter-City amateur league and also played for the Salmonbellies. In the same year he joined the staff of the Vancouver Parks Board, where he would stay as an administrator for the next 34 years. Before joining the Salmonbellies’ organization, he was with the Burnaby Cablevision lacrosse team for 6 years.

Casey Cook is an organizational bungy jumper - when a situation needs addressing, confront it boldly and leap feet first into a solution. It’s not that he’s a compulsive overachiever but, rather, an individual who loves a challenge.

Born May 11, 1945, in The Hague, Netherlands, little Cornelis arrived in Canada shortly before his fifth birthday with his parents and four siblings. The family settled down in South Burnaby where young Cook picked up his “Casey” nickname and a lifelong love for the game of lacrosse.

After moving through the South Burnaby minor box lacrosse system, Casey joined the Coquitlam Junior A team for the 1966 and 1967 seasons, accumulating 42 points in 32 games.

Lacrosse in B.C. tasted professional status in 1968, but not wishing to endure lengthy road trips after completing a 4-year scholarship at the University of Michigan, Casey opted to turn senior with the Coquitlam amateur team - the Adanacs, who were now playing out of Portland, Oregon.

“I don’t really recall what I did,” said Cook when asked about his rookie season. “It’s
not that important.” But what he accomplished was to take the 1968 scoring title.

The following season, he transferred to the New Westminster Blues and was instrumental in
leading them to a Mann Cup final. In all, Cook picked up 145 points in 62 senior games.

By now, however, his interests turned to coaching youngsters. In addition to his job
with the City of Vancouver Recreational Department, Casey coached minor teams in
South Burnaby from 1968 to 1973 and held down the association presidency the latter
two years.

In 1974, Casey turned his full attention to coaching the Burnaby Cablevision Junior B team, taking the club to four national finals and to the 1977 Canada Games.

Following the 1979 season, he left Burnaby and began his lengthy relationship with the
New Westminster Salmonbellies.

“Lloyd Solomon telephoned me and asked if I would be the ‘bellies’ GM,” he recalled. “I jumped at the challenge.” The ‘bellies went to the Mann Cup finals in 1980, but began the following season with a poor 3 and 8 record. Casey assumed the coaching duties, halted the losing woes and directed the team to the Canadian title.

With the exceptions of 1984 and 1989 when he co-coached the club with John Hannah, Casey placed all of his efforts into the management end of team business. In 1985, Casey took over the role of Salmonbellies president, a position he held until 2000 when growing outside commitments forced him to step down; however, he remained with the team as vice-president.

What were his teams’ records over the 20 years? 4 Mann Cups in 11 trips to the Canadian finals. Somehow, during the same period of time, the durable Dutchman managed to squeeze in time to sit on the WLA Board of Governors for 15 years, three of them as Chair; act as Treasurer for the
Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame; serve a 5-year stint with the CLA box sector, the last
two as Chair; and serve on several BCLA committees.

Obviously, people took notice.

Casey won the WLA Coach of the Year honours in 1984 and 1989 and Executive of the
Year in 1989 and 1992. The BCLA named him Coach of the Year in 1978, 1981 and 1989.
In 1990, the CLA presented him with its Award of Distinction.