On Friday, November 10, the 2017 Hall of Fame Induction Night will take place at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax.
Five athletes, one team and two builders will be honoured for their outstanding contributions to Nova Scotia sport, with an expected audience of up to 1,000 people in attendance to share in the celebration of these inductees’ achievements.
These inductees are Canadian champions, Olympians and Paralympians, and Pan American medalists. They have hoisted the Stanley Cup, officiated at the highest level and built championship teams from the ground up.
The evening will be hosted by Hall of Fame Executive Director and CBC broadcaster Bruce Rainnie. As master of ceremonies for the 19th consecutive year, Rainnie will bring the inductees’ stories to life with his usual blend of humour and heartwarming interview style.
Tickets for the 2017 Induction Awards Night are on sale now at the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame. Call 902-404-3343 to place your order.
Here is a closer look at the Nova Scotia sport heroes who we will be honoured as the newest class of Hall of Famers on November 10:
Sarah Baker (Athlete Category), of Seabright, is a multi-Paralympic medalist in swimming, javelin and wheelchair basketball, winning gold in javelin and discus and bronze in swimming at the 1980 Games. Baker also holds multiple Para Pan Am medals (after competing in all three events in a single Games), a world record in javelin and a reputation as one of the greatest wheelchair multi-sport athletes of all time. Faced with health setbacks at a young age, Baker not only overcame the challenges but thrived as a triple threat in Paralympic sport, even as the only female player on the Nova Scotia Flying Wheels wheelchair basketball team. With Para Pan Am gold in basketball and backstroke, three National Games gold medals and her Paralympic success, Baker has been honoured as a Para Pan Am torch bearer and a dinner guest of the Prime Minister and Queen.
Amy Cotton (Athlete Category), of Judique, represented Canada in judo at two Olympics (2004 and 2012), while competing on the national judo team for 18 years. She has amassed 11 senior national medals and placed seventh at the World Championships in both 2005 and 2009. Cotton has made it to the podium a multitude of times, including eight Pan American Championships medals, bronze at the 2003 Pan American Games and 13 World Cup medals. As a World Team member for seven years, she has competed at a long list of other World Cup events and international open tournaments. Cotton has also claimed three gold and one silver at US Open events and was selected as an alternate for Canada’s Olympic team in 2008.
Todd King (Athlete Category), of Grand Lake, was named MVP and top hitter at the 1994 Canadian Senior Men’s Softball Championships, before playing on the Canadian Men’s National Fast Pitch Team from 1995 to 2000. With numerous All-Canadian honours to his name, King has led teams to silver and gold at the Senior Men’s National Championships and won two Pan-Am gold medals, from the 1995 and 1999 Games. A versatile player who has excelled at multiple positions at the international level, he has ranked as one of the province’s best third basemen of all time and has been named to three All-Star teams at Canadian Championships. King is also the ISC World Championships 1994 Top Hitter, an ISF World Championship silver medalist and an inductee in the Canadian Softball Hall of Fame.
Lucy Smith (Athlete Category), of Bedford, has dominated distance running across the country and around the world, with 19 Canadian Championship titles in running, duathlon and triathlon. She also captured five Canadian Open Cross Country Championship wins and two silver medals in duathlon at the World Championships during her long and successful professional career. Smith had a memorable first CIAU win in 1988, when she beat everyone to the finish line in 100 km/h winds. She continued to impress, with personal bests that very few Nova Scotian runners, even male track athletes, have been able to match. Smith never slowed down, capturing one of her World duathlon medals at the age of 38.
Colin White (Athlete Category), of New Glasgow, made a mark during his 13-year NHL career as a tough and physical defenseman for the New Jersey Devils. White was drafted 49th overall in 1996 and helped the Devils win two Stanley Cups (one in 2000 and one in 2003). His two Stanley Cup wins are achievements that he adds to his Memorial Cup 1997 win with the Hull Olympiques. In 2012 he became one of only five players to have their jerseys retired by the QMJHL Olympiques. White finished his NHL career with one season with the San Jose Sharks, after having made a lasting impression with the Devils as a defenseman capable of putting up 20 points in a season.
The 1977 Cheema Canoe Team (Team Category) Forty years ago this team put Nova Scotia on the national stage for paddling and set the bar for the many canoe successes that came out of the province afterwards. This team, led by Coach Frank Garner, was the first Atlantic Canadian Canoe team to win a national championship. The national championships began in 1900, and no Nova Scotia team had managed to claim the title until the 1977 Cheema team from Waverley. Since Cheema created a turning point for Nova Scotia paddling, the province has dominated the national canoe sprint scene ever since, with Cheema earning seven of the 12 national championship victories. The 1977 team cleaned up with gold in junior ladies’ and men’s, silver in juvenile men’s and bronze in senior men’s. Ten of the club’s athletes and two coaches also went on to paddle for Team Canada at the 1977 North American Championships, winning 11 gold medals. Five of the athletes helped win four gold and five silver at the Canada Summer Games.
This team of outstanding paddlers included: Don Brien, Debbie Carr, Richard Clarke, Ian Crowley, Alan Dewtie, Elizabeth Drew, Jane Drew, Nancy Drew, Nelson Drysdale, Allyson Fehr, Leslie Fenerty, Brian Keevill, Joanne Lobban, Scott Logan, Allan MacDonald, Dave McNaughton, Allan McNaughton, Randy McDonald, Colleen McDonald, Loretta Mullen, Vincent Mullen, Anne Murray, Dave Murray, Brian O’Leary, Mike O’Leary, Dave Pelham, Tom Pelham, Ian Ramsey, Don Robertson, Sue Viczko, Dan Viney, Greg Walker, Nancy Walker, Cynthia Weir, Coral Wickstrom, Steve Wickstrom, Joy Williams, Gail Wood, Sherry Wyse, Frank Garner (head coach), C.L. “Bud” Dodge (team manager), Ron Orton (coach), Bill Lobban (coach), Llyod Burley (coach), and Rick Wood (coach).
Brad Barton (Builder Category), of Jordantown, has supported the development of volleyball as a coach, official and administrator at all levels. The Canadian Volleyball Association Referee in Chief from 1978 to 1985, Barton has officiated two Olympic and one Pan Am Games, a World Championships and three World Student Games. He has held several positions within Volleyball Nova Scotia, including Referee-in-Chief, and he has used his international officiating badge to serve as Co-Head Instructor of the 1983 International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) clinic and as International Referee Liaison at the 2015 FIVB World League in Halifax. Barton has received numerous awards, including the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Award and the Order of Canada, and he is also an active member of his community, having volunteered his time on the boards of many community organizations.
Mike Kelly (Builder Category), originally from Saint John, New Brunswick, dedicated many years to developing premier hockey teams, starting with the Twin Cities Hockey League in 1963. Kelly followed this success with his involvement in two Nova Scotian hockey dynasties, co-founding and directing the Halifax Junior Canadiens, and serving as VP of Operations for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs between 1971 and 1983. His Voyageurs were the first AHL team in the Atlantic Provinces, and their Calder Cup successes packed the stands at both the Halifax Forum and the Halifax Metro Centre. Kelly was also responsible for founding the Dartmouth Lakers Junior Hockey Team, founding the Valley Hockey School and leading the Halifax Moosehead Junior A Hockey Team as Vice President of Operations. He directed multiple hockey organizations, as well, and served as Vice President of the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association. Mike Kelly is being inducted posthumously.
For more information contact Shane Mailman at 902-404-3339 / [email protected]