University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Lyman C. 'Shorty' Cote, Sr. Special Inductee - Trainer, Equipment Manager
A native of Burlington and a former amateur boxer, the late Lyman "Shorty" Cote was involved in athletics at the university for 28 years, from 1939 to 1967, before being inducted into the UVM Hall of Fame in 1997.
Cote's career at Vermont began in 1939 when he worked for Building and Grounds. Shortly thereafter, he was offered a full-time position to maintain the equipment and the athletic fields for the athletic department.
In August of 1942, Cote was drafted by the army and served for nearly four years in the service. He was trained by the army as a medic by the Walter Reed Medical Center, and served with a glider unit and in Army hospitals in Massachusetts and New York. He attained the rank of Technical Sergeant and was the non-commissioned officer in charge of the surgery clinic at Mason General Hospital on Long Island when he was discharged.
When he returned to Burlington, UVM was in need of an athletic trainer, and Cote got the job. He subsequently attained additional schooling in athletic training at Columbia University. Cote and his wife, Cecile, and family were a team that served UVM athletes in many capacities for nearly three decades. They held social gathering in the Cote barn, served holiday meals in their home for athletes who were not able to travel home for the holidays, and served as chaperones at many fraternity parties.
In addition, the Cote family were actively involved in other activities. The Cote's would cut oranges for athletes before games and shag balls during the games, and after games soiled uniforms were loaded into the Cote car and brought home where they were soaked, scrubbed, and mended by the family. Cote, a resourceful man, would go above and beyond the athletic department. When the football coach and former athletic director, Ed Donnelly needed a new blocking sled, Cote built one. When the old gym needed dressing rooms for the visiting teams, Cote would take what little money was available, buy the supplies and build the room himself.
But back in 1955, student athletes from the Varsity Club and UVM fraternities and sororities organized "Shorty Cote Night" for "his untiring efforts and innumerable contributions to the University and its students." At halftime of the UVM-Clarkson basketball game in December of 1955, the students presented Cote with a yard tractor and mantle clock.
Active in church and civic organizations throughout his life, Cote was awarded the Robert E. Landry Memorial Award in 1977 for his contributions to athletes in Winooski, home to Shorty and fellow Hall of Famer Ralph LaPointe. In 1978, Winooski held a banquet in his honor and declared the evening "Shorty Cote Night."
In an article in the spring of 1986 issue of the Vermont Magazine titled "Pillar of Patrick," the following was written about Cote: "At UVM, Cote was not only a trainer, but also a father, counselor, carpenter, manager, and always a friend to generations of student athletes."
Cote passed away on July 24, 1996 at the age of 83.
