On June 14th (2023), the
Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame will welcome a new
slate of inductees for the first time in four years.
With a total of 15 new inductees included
in what amounts to the Class of 2020 and 2022, it seems
safe to say that the new grouping will more than make
up for the lost time, both in terms of quantity and quality.
Given the amount of time that has passed
since the Class of 2020 was first announced, pre-COVID,
it seemed prudent to spend a column reacquainting local
sports folks with the impressive resumes that accompany
each and other one of the individuals and collection of
individuals who will be feted in a little over a month
at the Caruso Club:
GARY TREVISIOL: A member
of the Sudbury Cycling Club in the very infancy of the
organization, Trevisiol would climb the Canadian cycling
ranks quickly, claiming a national junior title within
two years of picking up the sport. But after finishing
6th at Worlds in 1979 and qualifying for the Moscow Olympics
that Canada would boycott, Trevisiol would return to the
Games four years later in Los Angeles, part of a team
that also included silver medal winner Steve Bauer.
BRENT HATTON: First introduced
to course golf at Cedar Green as he kicked off his teenage
years, Hatton would garner far more prominence as a long-time
member of the Lively Golf Club, the setting that was home
to so many of the 55 tournament titles he claimed over
the years. Nearing his 60th birthday, Hatton continues
to play well, a serious threat in recent years at the
Ontario Seniors Championships.
TERRY CRISP: Although
he played more than 530 games as a centreman in the NHL,
helping the Philadelphia Flyers to a pair of Stanley Cup
victories in the 1970’s, Crisp is at least as well
known for his coaching career, a head coach for more than
eight seasons with the Calgary Flames and Tampa Bay Lightning,
winning another Cup with the former in 1988-1989.
CHRISTINE JAWORSKI: A
very natural athlete from a highly athletic Sudbury family,
Jaworski would garner the most attention for her prowess
as an arm-wrestler, walking off a world champion on three
separate instances, the kind of success that would land
her a cameo on the Sylvester Stallone movie, “Over
the Top” in 1987.
ROBERT ESMIE: A native
of Jamaica who moved to Sudbury while still in elementary
school, Esmie was a three time OFSAA gold medal winner
as a sprinter at Lasalle Secondary School, continuing
to develop to the point of claiming bronze at the Indoor
Worlds in 1995 and holding the world record at one time
in the 60m dash. But it was as the lead runner for the
Canadian 4 X 100m relay team that won gold in Atlanta
that the Air Blastoff coach is most well known.
JIM LOGAN: Born in Toronto,
Logan would compete at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Italy
as a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, he and
his teammates earning bronze medals at the Games. Moving
to Sudbury to accept an accounting position shortly thereafter
and suiting up with the b>Sudbury Wolves' senior team
coached by Peanuts O’Flaherty (also a St Michael’s
alumnus), Logan has spent the rest of his life in these
parts, devoting many years as a coach of Special Olympics
curling teams.
GARY FOY: A very talented
all-around skier who raced with the Nickel Teens Ski Club,
Foy won gold at nationals in the downhill as a U20 competitor
before moving on to influence the sport in these parts
in countless different ways, as a coach, a member of the
divisional ski executive and as the man most associated
with bringing the Lively Ski Hill to life.
JOHN BEEDELL: Born in
New Zealand but moving to Canada as a youngster, John
Beedell would make his way to Sudbury during the glory
years of the Sudbury Canoe Club (1950’s / 1960’s),
representing Canada at the World Championships in Prague
in 1958 and again at the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960,
eventually settling in the Ottawa region to a career as
a teacher.
TESSA BONHOMME: Having
played all of her youth hockey in Sudbury, Bonhomme would
accept an NCAA scholarship with the Ohio State Buckeyes,
enjoying a storied career that would see her earn a nomination
for the Patti Kazmaier Award as outstanding collegiate
player of the year. No surprise that she would also catch
the attention of the Canadian national team, winning at
the World Championships on two occasions and claiming
Olympic gold on home soil in 2010 at the Vancouver Winter
Olympics.
FIELDING BROTHERS (Clifford/Carman/Cecil):
Members of a family that is far more well-known in these
parts for their heavy involvement in the Sudbury business
community, the “Fighting Fieldings” also remained
extremely active in the boxing community, both as participants
and supporters of the sport, with both Clifford and Carman
earning induction into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame.
CAPREOL MAZZUCAS FASTBALL:
Although fastball in Capreol can actually be dated back
to not all that long after the turn of the 20th century,
it was the era that began in the mid-fifties and continued
through to the seventies that would see the Mazzuca-sponsored
teams earn one provincial title after the next, establishing
a standard of excellence in the sport that now sees them
earning the first nod in the newly created “Norm
Mayer Dynasty Award” category.
KAREN DUGUAY BUNTING:
Inducted into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame in 2020,
(then) Duguay – (now) Bunting twice donned the maple
leaf at the World Championships for Canada (1998 &
2000) in addition to participating in more than 15 sets
of national championship tournaments, playing the sport
well into adulthood and now moving on to the coaching
ranks.
JEFFREY BUTTLE: Buttle
moved to Sudbury quite young, quickly forming a partnership
with coach Wendy Philion and the Sudbury Skating Club.
A member of the Canadian Olympic team that took part in
the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, Buttle would add
a gold medal performance at the 2008 World Championships
in Gothenburg to his silver medal that he claimed in 2005
in Moscow.
GILLES LAFRANCE: Initially
cracking the Canadian Cerebral Palsy team in 1981, Lafrance
participated at the World Championships a year later in
Denmark before moving on to enjoy two sets of Paralympic
Games (New York City – 1984; Barcelona – 1992).
Lafrance also held a pair of world records at one time
in 1986, the fastest in the world in his category at the
200m and 400m distances.
FABIO BELLI (posthumous):
Belli would leverage his love of soccer in a variety of
fashions, as volunteer and team manager and a businessman,
opening Just Soccer and serving as chairman of the highly
successful Panhellenic Soccer Tournament. Still in just
his thirties, Belli was elected to city council, a post
that he held at the time of his sad and most unexpected
passing in April of 2014.
A number of the inductees who were able
to make it gathered at Eddies Restaurant on Wednesday
to mix and mingle with existing Sudbury Sports Hall of
Famers, with the dinner now just a month away. For more
information or to purchase tickets, kindly contact either
Randy Pascal (info@sudburysports.com – 705-698-1627)
or Joe Drago (drago@eastlink.ca – 705-207-3475)
- or pick up tickets at either the House of Kin on Regent
Street or at Top Glove Boxing Academy on Lorne Street.
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