Letter: Sudbury needs to support sports hall of fame

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the House of Kin dinner, at which Tom Renney, director of Hockey Canada, and Sudbury’s own Joe Drago, the chair of Hockey Canada, played host to a packed and enthusiastic house at the Caruso Club.

The stated purpose of the dinner was to raise funds in order to complete the long-proposed Sports Hall of Fame at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex. But to those of us who were there, it was much more.

As the slow start to the House of Kin Sports Hall of Fame demonstrates, Sudburians are sometimes slow to celebrate our citizens’ success. We have so much to be proud of, both past and present, but very few avenues for celebration.

As a hockey dad with three kids in minor hockey, I spend a lot of time in arenas all over the city. I often check out the banners hanging from rafters and walls and wonder about the triumphs and stories behind them. Sometimes glass cases show off photo tributes and trophies commemorating hockey successes ... or figure skating, or ringette, or lacrosse.

But this recognition is scattered across the city. And it’s inconsistent. We have an arena named after Toe Blake, a banner for Randy Carlyle, and virtually nothing for George Armstrong or Al Arbour.

And what about other sports? Curling, skiing, golf, tennis, soccer, baseball, football. There are tributes to our legacy of achievement in these sports in venues all across the city, and that’s appropriate.

And I’m sure there are many successful past teams or individual athletes not memorialized, because there is no official space to recognize them.

The Sudbury Lady Wolves Midget AA won the National Midget AA championship in Red Deer, Alta. I joined Sudburians in watching these awesome girls celebrate on the ice with the banner that will soon adorn one of our local arenas. We should all be proud of this accomplishment.

What else can we do to remember this achievement? To tell the story of how these girls came together so it is remembered by more than the few people who followed them?

Joe Drago, with the help of the House of Kin and Science North, wants to fill this gap. They recognize that we should be celebrating these accomplishments for years to come, inspiring others to get involved in sports, and learn those important life skills through the games we enjoy.

I encourage Sudburians to familiarize themselves with the Sports Hall of Fame project, and look for ways to support it. Together, we can build a Hall we can all be proud of, to celebrate those who have made us so proud to be Sudburians.

Paul Lefebvre
federal Liberal candidate for Sudbury