Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame

The 13th Annual Vikes Championship Breakfast was held virtually this morning. Thank you to everyone who tuned in and contributed #govikesgo UVic Vikes

Vikes Championship Breakfast is going virtual. Save the date: November 5.

The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame salutes the Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL) as a 2020 Inductee in the Builder category. VISL has a long and venerable history, becoming organized in 1895 with eight teams and now celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2020 with 85 senior men’s teams from Powell River/Campbell River south. The VISL Sir John Jackson Cup championship has been played almost continuously since 1915. In 1923, the Nanaimo Wanderers became the first BC t...eam to win a National Championship. In 1968, the Victoria O’Keefes won the Kennedy Cup a Mexico, USA, Canada tournament and VISL teams won five further National Championships in the ‘70s and 80’s. In 1986, a large VISL contingent led the Canadian team to its first-ever World Cup tournament, with GVSHOF inductee George Pakos scoring twice in the qualifying rounds goals described as the two most important goals in Canadian soccer history. Over the years, the VISL has hosted many touring British teams, including Chelsea, Fulham and Glasgow. Sir Stanley Matthews played at Royal Athletic Park in 1950 and, in 1951, the Victoria All Stars became the first Canadian team ever to beat a touring English team, winning 1-0 over Fulham. At least 20 VISL alumni, including players, teams, organizations and builders have been inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame (GVSHOF) and both soccer and the league continue to grow on the Island. A detailed history of the VISL is usually on display on the concourse at Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. It will seen again when the SOFMC deem it is safe to re-open. Vancouver Island Soccer League Canada Soccer Fulham FC Official BC Sports Hall of Fame See more

The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame salutes Pat Hall and welcomes her as a 2020 Inductee. Pat is being inducted as a Builder Multi-sports. While ambassador denotes a representative or promoter, in Pat Hall’s case, ambassador means a-person-a-sport-could-not-do-without. For over 50 years, Pat has been involved with field hockey locally, provincially and nationally at all levels of the game. Since 1961, she has had roles as a player with the Vancouver Island... Ladies Field Hockey Association (VILFHA), a coach and an umpire, co-founding the South Island Field Hockey Umpires Association (SIFHUA) in 1988. She has served with Field Hockey BC, Field Hockey Canada, the SIFHUA and the Victoria Junior Field Hockey Association and was honoured four times with the VILFHA’s most prestigious award as well as Field Hockey BC’s Barbara Schrodt Award for those who have made a difference. Her numerous awards also include Victoria Sports Person of the Year, Sport BC President’s Award, VILFHA Life Membership and, in 2013, the VILFHA introduced the Pat Hall Officials Development Award. Pat’s contributions to softball are almost as numerous. Starting in 1960 as a scorekeeper for the Independent Athletics Association softball league, by 1963 she was the league’s scorekeeper, announcer and statistician. She helped draw up the new constitution for the MacDonald Park Men’s Softball League in 1995 and held various executive positions until she retired from softball in 2010. Pat is a unique individual who has passed down her knowledge and expertise and, in doing so, created a legacy of high-performance sport that continues to this day. Field Hockey BC #sportbc Softball BC BC Sports Hall of Fame Field Hockey Canada See more

The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame salutes Joanne Mick and welcomes her as a 2020 Inductee. Joanne is being inducted for her contribution to Softball. Her softball journey began in 1964 with Brenda Green pitching and Joanne catching. That first year, they lost all but their final league game. That win lit Joanne’s competitive flame! In 1973, a new combo was formed with pitcher, Rosemary Fuller. The duo caught the eye of Coach Adrian Lavigne who courted them for the 197...4 National Championships. They won their first national title that year and stayed with Lavigne’s DOC’S Blues for the balance of their careers. Joanne’s motto was Have glove will travel and that glove was the ticket to the world’s best softball tournaments. Joanne represented Canada at three World Championships: 1978 El Salvador (Silver medallists - still the highest showing ever for a Canadian team); 1982 Taiwan (5th) and 1986 New Zealand (4th). She participated in 13 BC Championships and was on the winning team for 12 of them. Joanne represented BC at 13 Canadian Championships, winning nine, and was named All Star Catcher at the 1980 Canadian Championships. Leagues played included North West, Pacific Coast, Intercity, and Vancouver City, California, Texas, and Florida state; New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Japan, China Beijing and Taiwan. Joanne was always able to get the best out of any pitcher she caught for and loved the challenge of moulding young throwers into pitchers. As a catcher, Joanne was known as the finest pitching coach to ever play the game in Canada. Softball Canada Softball BC See more

The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame salutes Donnie Orr and welcomes him as a 2020 Inductee. It all started when Donnie Orr’s father Don Sr. - took his six-year-old son to the Jaycee Boxing Club to learn the basics. At age 11, Donnie started serious training at the Victoria Athletic Association Boxing Club with Don Sr., Mike Caird and Ian Weir as coaches. He began competing at age 12 and, by 1994, Donnie Boy was a Golden, Silver and Emerald Gloves Champion, Diamond B...elt Champion and a Silver medallist at the Canadian Championships. After taking high school years off, he returned to boxing in 1998, beginning a four-year winning streak of multiple provincial and national medals, Best Boxer and Best Bout trophies, plus Gold at the Los Angeles International Blue & Gold tournament where he was named Most Outstanding Boxer for all weight divisions among 320 fighters. He represented Canada at the 2000 Olympics and was 2001 Team Captain for Canada, winning Bronze at the Francophone Games and placing 5th at the World Championships. He received the Premier's Award of Excellence for 2001. From 2002-2004, Donnie took time away from boxing, then moved to Las Vegas in 2005 to train for a professional boxing career under Richard Steele. "Donnie Boy" had matches in Las Vegas, Boston, California and New York and finished his pro career in 2010 with 15 wins and 1 loss. As both amateur and professional, Donnie Orr was one of the best boxers in Canadian sport history. Boxing Canada Island MMA Training Center See more

The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame salutes Bobby Ross and welcomes him as a 2020 inductee. One of the finest rugby players ever to play for Canada, Bobby was a multi-sport athlete at school, playing rugby, basketball, soccer and baseball. A baseball scholarship took him to Washington State but rugby lured him back to Victoria and UVic. He captained the Canadian Junior team to Wales in 1988 and was 1989 Junior Varsity Athlete of the Year. He began his rugby career wit...h the Castaways, won six Island and four Provincial titles with James Bay Athletic Association and was four-time club MVP. He played for both Junior and Senior Crimson Tide, Team BC, and professionally for Cardiff in the Welsh Premier League and the European Cup. After an injury in 1998, he played domestically and for Canada. Bobby had 57 caps between 1989 and 2003 and captained the Canadian Under 19, Under 21 and Senior Men’s teams. He was once capped for all three levels in the same year. He represented Canada in three World Cups, set the Canadian record for drop goals that still stands and is the all-time Pacific Rim Championships scoring leader. He was a prodigious kicker, scoring 421 test points, ranking him as Canada’s third all-time scorer. In his last game for Canada in the 2003 World Cup, Bobby was named Man of the Match. At retirement, he was ranked number 14 all-time in international rugby scoring. Rugby Canada Castaway Wanderers Rugby Club James Bay Athletic Association The Welsh Rugby Union BC Sports Hall of Fame See more

As the song says 'it was 20 years ago today' that Simon Whitfield swam, biked and ran his way to a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in the inaugural triathlon event. Simon was inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. https://www.gvshof.ca//53-tr/267-simon-whitfield-2016.html

The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame salutes its 2020 Inductees. Announced in May, there are six worthy inductees and while sadly we cannot induct them in person we can recognize them through our social media channels and website. Our first inductee is Bob McLaren, inducted in the Athletes category for his contribution to Athletics. Bob was the greatest Canadian hurdler of his generation. He started as a sprinting sensation at Oak Bay High School, where he set records in... 1963 in the 100m and 200m that were still standing at the time of his induction into the Oak Bay High Hall of Fame in 2008. He was named Outstanding High School Athlete at the 1963 Provincial Championships, leading to an NCAA track career with the Oregon State Beavers in what was then the Pac-8 Conference. Bob had all the natural attributes of a hurdler and was converted from sprinting to the 400-metre hurdles. He honed his skills as a 400m runner at Oregon State and held the Canadian record as well as winning National Championships in the hurdles and several other events (indoors and relays) from 1966 to 1968. After just missing out on the national team for the 1966 Commonwealth Games, Bob represented Canada the following year at the 1967 Pan American Games, winning two medals Bronze in the 400-metre hurdles and Silver with the 4 x 400 relay team. As a result, he was named Victoria Athlete of the Year in 1967. As national champion in 1968, Bob qualified to compete in the Mexico City Summer Olympics. Favoured to reach the final, an injury in warm up kept him from the ultimate goal, but his contribution to Victoria and Canadian athletics will stand forever. Athletics Canada BC Sports Hall of Fame BC Athletics #oakbayhighschool See more

Congratulations to Steve Nash on his appointment to the Nets

Who was at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria? Volunteering, competing or spectating? This day - August 18, 1994 - was the Opening Ceremonies at UVic's Centennial Stadium. 2557 athletes from 63 nations competed in ten sports. Canada finished second in the overall medal standings. Vikes Recreation Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence #94forward Photos courtesy BC Sports Hall of Fame

The GV Sports Hall of Fame is delighted to partner with Vikes Recreation on establishing a new annual award - the Sybil Verch Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame Award