North Bay Sports Hall of Fame announces its winners

The North Bay Sports Hall of Fame will welcome five new members at the 32nd annual induction and awards dinner at the Best Western, April 28.

The 2012 Hall of Fame class will include professional hockey coach Tom Hedican, who spent time coaching OHL teams in London and North Bay before working with European professional teams for a number of years.

Hedican has also founded the Coach4Food campaign, which has had a positive impact on the North Bay food bank and has been adopted by other cities in Ontario.

Lou Farelli, a former NHL referee and fastball standout, will be inducted posthumously. An excellent fastball player on the local scene, Farelli became the first North Bayite to referee in the NHL, which he did in the 1950s and 60s.

Two-time Canadian university football all-star Claude Riopelle, a draft pick of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will also be inducted. The former North Bay Tiger Cat also coached football for more than 30 years in southern Ontario.

Longtime multi-sport coach Garry Payne will also be inducted for his contributions to basketball, football, baseball, track and field and hockey over more than 35 years.

The Hall of Fame will also induct its first judo athlete and builder, Rolph Tipler, who taught the discipline throughout the district for several years and trained numerous top-level athletes, police officers and army cadets.

As part of the annual induction dinner, North Bay’s 2011 sports awards will also be handed out.

Outstanding university athletes Dominique Bouchard and Matt Walters are co-winners of the DIA Achievement Award.

Bouchard set a Big-12 conference record in the 200-metre backstroke in her second season at the University of Missouri last March, before earning a pair of gold at Swim Canada’s summer national championships.

Walters, competing for the University of Windsor Lancers, won a bronze medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport cross-country championships in November, after also earning bronze at the OUA championships.

Rob Pavone, a former university soccer player who is still active as a recreational player and competitive coach, will receive the 2011 Dedication to Soccer Award.
Adam Nicolson, a football standout for the Chippewa Raiders who went on to the University of Ottawa and recently retired as a CFL wide receiver, is the recipient of the Mike Mitchell/Larry Avery Memorial award for contribution to football.

The North Bay North Stars special needs hockey and dragon boat team will be recognized with the James Kelly Memorial Award as Team of the Year.

The Al Knapp Memorial Trophy for contribution to softball/baseball will go to longtime fastball player and coach Darlene Hotte.

Erin Emery, wrapping up a five-year career as the all-time scoring leader in women’s basketball at Durham College, will receive the George Martyn Memorial Trophy for dedication to basketball.

Nipissing Lakers men’s hockey coach Mike McParland, a member of the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a player and professional coach in Europe, will receive the Judge Harry Reynolds Memorial Trophy for dedication to hockey.

The Al Brennan Memorial Trophy for coach/executive of the year will be shared by North Stars managers Sharon Fung and Dave Washington.

The Mort Fellman Memorial Trophy for outstanding achievement by a local level female athlete will go to Chippewa Secondary School graduate Sarah Swain, an OFSAA track and field medalist last June.

Ryan Hunter, who captured double OFSAA gold in track and field with the Algonquin Barons as well as provincial and national accolades as a junior weightlifter while pursuing a football scholarship, will receive the Britt Jessup Memorial Trophy for outstanding achievement by a local level male athlete.

Chippewa Raiders basketball and track and field coach Jan Faucon will be recognized as the Pete Palangio Sportsperson of the Year for longtime dedication and contribution to sport.

Longtime local sports supporter and sponsor Cathy Strawn will receive the Pete Handley Friend of Sport award for contributions to sport in a meaningful way behind the scenes.

Submitted to BayToday.ca