From the Times Colonist - Taking Care of Business, Saturday, July 4, 2020

Doug Jennings, President of the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame comments on the effect COVID-19 has had on events and the 2020 Induction Ceremony

We were in the middle of the planning process for the 2020 Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner when COVID-19 put the brakes on the event. The 27^th annual ceremony was due to happen in October at the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa but the Provincial Health Order on mass gatherings made it impossible for us to complete planning and to be able to host it.

Not only that but the fundraising events that we hold to help fund the dinner were cancelled so it was a double whammy for us. However, even though there won’t be a dinner this year we went ahead and announced the class of inductees for 2020 in May, and these deserving individuals will be recognized instead in 2021.

The first event to be affected by COVID-19 restrictions was the Family Sport & Recreation Festival held at PISE every May. As co-host the Hall of Fame receives a donation from the Victoria Foundation and Golf for Kids, however now we must defer their participation donation to next year. Next, we help support a local golf tournament – the Dobber – which was slated for June. Originally postponed to the fall this will likely not happen until 2021. Then in July we had a 50/50 night planned at the Victoria HarbourCats. This would have been our third year after two successful evenings in 2018 and 2019, but the HarbourCats season was cancelled. We had other fundraising events in mind, in particular with Pacific FC, but these are all now on hold.

Doug Jennings (right) receiving the Sid Thomas Memorial Trophy from Gordon Brown. The trophy was named after sports writer Sid Thomas of the (then) Daily Colonist in the 1940’s. It was awarded to amateur sportsmen from 1947-1960 until it disappeared, later to appear in the 1970’s in the office of Brown’s father-in-law, Tom Barber, GM of the Colonist Printers. After many years in the family Brown donated the restored trophy in 2018 to the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame. The name Sid Thomas is also associated with the Sports Media Award awarded on occasion by the Hall of Fame. Sid Thomas was the first recipient in 2001.

Many Victoria sports fans also know that our “Hall of Fame” is housed in the Save on Foods Memorial Centre, in the concourse by Gate 3. Here we honour the over 220 athletes, coaches, teams and builders that have been inducted since 1991. In addition we have displays that chronicle Victoria’s rich sports history. There is the Cycling History of Greater Victoria, dating from the 19^th Century to the present day and includes our first inductee Torcy Peden’s track bike – now restored to its former glory. We also have the history of the soccer on Vancouver Island, a four panel display that depicts 128 years of soccer greatness, produced in conjunction with the Vancouver Island Soccer League.

However, all the many displays cannot be viewed at present because in April we were asked to remove them on advisement of SOFMC when the temporary indoor shelter being provided for the homeless by the City of Victoria was being established.

But while our events are cancelled, and our displays are not on view our 15-person volunteer board remains strong and productive. Since April our monthly meetings have been held virtually through Zoom, and we are still actively planning for the future.

The Hall of Fame gives back to the community and one of the events we recognize is the Vikes Championship Breakfast held in September at UVic in the CARSA gym. The Hall of Fame purchases tables where we host past inductees and sponsors as a thank you for their generous support to us. The breakfast has raised $5.6 million over 12 years for student-athlete scholarships. While we do not know at present if the 2020 breakfast will go ahead, what we do know is that the annual Vikes scholarship we award will. For the past 10 years we have provided a scholarship for a local high-school student who is a first year Vikes athlete, via the Bate Family Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame Award.

Despite not having the induction dinner and ceremony this year, our class of 2020 will not go unrecognized. We announced six inductees, four in the athletes category: Bobby Ross (Rugby), Bob McLaren (Athletics), Joanne Mick (Softball) and Donnie Orr (Boxing); and two builders: Pat Hall (Multi-Sports) and the Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL). These worthy additions to our Hall of Fame will be profiled on our website, newsletters and social media channels and will be formally inducted next year with our 2021 class.

As a registered charity we are moving ahead with confidence, knowing that our way of life will get back to normal, and we can resume our work and focus on preserving Victoria’s immense sports heritage. Please view our website at gvshof.ca for further information on our activities and where you can show your donation support for the work of your Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.