Rugby great Gareth Rees of Victoria, a sa国际传媒 Sports Hall of Fame board member, scanned the room Tuesday and quipped 鈥渋t looks like an Island reunion鈥� as he prepared to MC the day-before reception at sa国际传媒 Place for the Class of 2017.
The induction ceremony is tonight at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Among those being enshrined with the current class into the sa国际传媒 Sports Hall is two-time World Cup player Mark Wyatt, who came out of Vic High and Oak Bay and was so seamless on rugby pitches around the world despite his relatively thin frame. Olympian and two-time world champion Roland Green came out of Mount Douglas Secondary and chose his own idiosyncratic path across mountain bike trails. Michelle Stilwell of Parksville was the same on world tracks in her wheelchair.
Parksville-born and Port Alberni-raised women鈥檚 wheelchair basketball coach Tim Frick guided sa国际传媒 to four world championship titles and also gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Paralympics.
Also being enshrined in the Class of 2017 are sa国际传媒 Lions legend Geroy Simon, the all-time CFL receiving leader, who played 12 electrifying seasons with the Leos, and three-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Recchi from Kamloops, fifth all-time in NHL games played and 13th overall in career NHL points over 22 seasons.
Hall of Fame inductions are times of reflection.
鈥淲hen you begin playing sports as a kid, an honour like this isn鈥檛 even on your radar,鈥� said Wyatt.
Wyatt made it appear nearly effortless as the former UVic Vikes star scored 227 points for sa国际传媒, mostly as a kicker, in 29 Test matches. He was named to the all-world team in 1988 and played in two World Cups, captaining sa国际传媒 to the quarter-finals in 1991.
鈥淲hen you receive individual accolades in a team sport, you are always mindful and respectful of your teammates who helped get you those,鈥� said Wyatt, now a 56-year-old Victoria businessman.
鈥淲e had a special group of Canadian players.鈥�
Green was a 2000 Sydney Olympian, the 2001 and 2002 world champion and 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games gold medallist. He is just the second mountain biker enshrined in the sa国际传媒 Sports Hall of Fame and joins fellow-Victorian and three-time women鈥檚 world champion and Olympic silver-medallist Alison Sydor.
Green was as fierce and uncompromising on a bike as he was mild and understated off it. His riding became compromised by injuries, including a dangerous crash in Georgia that affected the trajectory of his career. He is now a welder in Fernie who does not ride anymore, even recreationally.
But Green is grateful he went from the trails of the Island to conquer the world: 鈥淚 appreciate the time I had at the top. [sa国际传媒 Hall of Fame induction] means a lot. It鈥檚 a huge honour.鈥�
Parksville-Qualicum MLA Stilwell, a sa国际传媒 cabinet minister, was 17 when she fell down a set of stairs while piggy-backing on a friend. Stilwell became a paraplegic but that did not dim her drive to become an athlete. She saw sport as an outlet and went on to win five wheelchair track gold medals at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games. Stilwell also has a silver medal from London and gold medal in wheelchair basketball from the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.
Being inducted into the team category this year are the national champion 1969-70 UBC Thunderbirds women鈥檚 basketball squad, coached by Ken Shields and led by standout player Kathy Shields, one of five players on that UBC team who would go on to play for sa国际传媒鈥檚 national team.
Both of the Shields would later go on to iconic status as coaches at the University of Victoria and were individually inducted into the sa国际传媒 Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 for their national championship dynasties at UVic.
But that 1969-70 UBC team remains a compelling part of their life stories.
鈥淜en treated us as athletes, not female athletes,鈥� said Kathy Shields, as the memories flooded back Tuesday.
That was a revolutionary concept at a time when women鈥檚 basketball wasn鈥檛 included in the Olympics, and university teams didn鈥檛 even have their own CIAU national championship, but instead played for the Canadian Senior A title.
鈥淲e were the first women鈥檚 team even allowed to use War Memorial Gym,鈥� recalled Shields.
鈥淜en taught us to train through adversity and that鈥檚 what we did. We pushed the glass ceiling and glass walls.鈥�
Being inducted into the builders category tonight are former UBC football coach Frank Smith and the late equestrian builders George and Dianne Tidball. Former CFLer David Sidoo, who saved and restored UBC football, is being enshrined in the WAC Bennett Award category. Chang Keun Choi, among the 12 original masters of taekwondo, is being inducted in the pioneer鈥檚 category.
