Brantford and Area Sports Hall of Recognition Alliance Board is looking to add an Olympian, Paralympian and Special Olympian digital display to the Brantford and Area Sports Hall of Recognition at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre.
Rick Mannen, a local running legend and volunteer with the Alliance Board, explained that while the Brantford and Area Sports Hall of Recognition proudly recognizes hometown athletes, sport builders and teams who have achieved the highest standards of excellence and make significant contributions in their chosen sport, there isn’t a display specifically dedicated to Olympic athletes.
“This is going to be something that is exclusively for Olympians, Paralympians and Special Olympics athletes that have gotten to the international level,” said Mannen. “We’ve never done something like this before, it’s always been inductees, honour roll members and team members that have been nominated and inducted into the Sports Hall, and while we have a number of various Olympians already in there, there isn’t some sort of tribute just for them.”
Although the Board has already spent around three to four years researching and compiling a list of 51 people for the display, the group wants to ensure they aren’t missing anyone who could have participated in the games and is now asking for the public’s assistance.
“We’ve compiled a pretty good list, but we may have missed somebody in the process so we’re hoping that by reaching out to the community, maybe people will come forward with someone in mind,” said Mannen. “I should mention that it’s not just athletes we’re looking for, we would also like to recognize any coaches, referees, marshalls, officials, and the like, that have participated in some capacity at the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games or the Special Olympics World Games as well.”
As far as who will qualify, Mannen said that they are looking for any individual who was either born in, or resided in, the City of Brantford, the County of Brant, Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation during the time they participated in the Games.
He added that submissions can be sent to sportshallalliance@gmail.com and should include a full name, the year[s] and sport they participated in, whether they were an athlete, coach, referee or the like, if they won any medals and what area they resided in at the time, as well as any additional information.
Overall, Mannen said he’s looking forward to seeing the project unfold, and hopes it will contribute to preserving the area’s sports history for years to come.
“You know, these communities, and Brantford in particular, are areas that are known for raising a lot of people who are successful in sports and I think the residents will be surprised when they see how many people here have participated,” he said. “I think it’s so important, not just for those athletes, but for our sports history in general, to recognize the people that have worked so hard to qualify and get to that level of competition; if we don’t remember and we don’t make tributes like this to some degree, then history gets lost over time… it’s just natural. We want to make sure to maintain and retain that information and then make it available to people so it doesn’t get lost.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
