HIGH ACHIEVERS: As Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame nomination deadline nears, here are my 2025 inductee hopefuls

By Martin Cleary

The window will close Tuesday for public nominations ahead of the 2025 Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

If you want to nominate an athlete, coach, builder, official or team for such a great civic honour, please visit OttawaSportHall.ca for all the details.

As time is running short, I thought I would nominate eight deserving candidates from six different sports for entry into the hall, if they haven’t already had their names put forward.

The list of athletes, coaches, builders, officials and teams continue to grow every year and patience is often required to see if your nominee is worthy of such an extraordinary honour.

Here are my eight nominations for consideration by the hall’s board of directors, including brief bios:

· Erica Wiebe, athlete, wrestling;

· Sherraine Schalm, athlete, fencing;

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· Gord Fraser, athlete, cycling;

· Jim Mick, Tony Rino, Tom Lawlor, coaches, football;

· Joyce Henry, official, rugby;

· Lois Kemp, builder, ringette.

ERICA WIEBE

After experiencing a multitude of sports in her youth with a focus on soccer, Wiebe was attracted to wrestling because of a notice she spotted on a wall at Sacred Heart High School, when she was in Grade 9.

She came to love all aspects of freestyle wrestling and by combining her skill set, dedication and enthusiasm, she emerged as one of the country’s most decorated amateur wrestlers.

A two-time Olympian, Wiebe won the gold medal in the women’s 75-kilogram class at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. She also absorbed a first-round loss at the 2020 Olympics, which were staged in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and attended the 2012 Olympics as a training partner for teammate Leah Callahan.

Wiebe’s lead-up to the Rio Games was impressive as she won every individual tournament she entered in 2014 and had a 36-match winning streak until placing 10th at the world championships.

Training and competing while earning bachelor degrees in kinesiology (2012) and sociology (2016) from the University of Calgary, Wiebe also was a gold medallist at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as being the bronze medallist at the 2013 World University Games and the 2013 Pan-American championships.

At the Canada Cup, Wiebe earned gold medals in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2018. Throughout her senior career, she competed in the top weight class for women at either 72, 75 or 76 kilograms.

Today, Wiebe is the manager – athlete relations, safe sport, DEI for the Canadian Olympic Committee.

SHERRAINE SCHALM

A four-time Summer Olympian (2000-12) in women’s epee fencing, Schalm was an international standout from 2002-09.

Schalm, a graduate of the University of Ottawa from Brooks, AB, was the first Canadian woman to win a medal at the world championships. After capturing the bronze medal at the 2005 worlds, she collected the silver during the 2009 global championships.

Her best results at the Olympics were a fourth during the 2004 Athens Games in women’s team epee and ninth at the 2008 Beijing Games in individual epee.

On the World Cup circuit, she earned 12 medals – six gold, three silver and three bronze. At the Grand Prix level, she was a triple medallist in each of the gold, silver and bronze categories.

As for world rankings in women’s individual epee, Schalm finished in the top 10 six times, including first in 2005-06, second in 2002-03, fourth in 2007-08 and fifth in 2004-05.

Today, Schalm lives in Italy and is a next generation fencing coach for Italian youth fencers. She learned to speak and write Italian so she could study and pass the proper coaching courses.

GORD FRASER

Considered the most successful professional cycling sprinter in North America, Fraser posted more than 200 individual and stage victories in his career.

The former Ottawa Bicycle Club athlete raced for four professional teams from 1994-2006. While riding for Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne, he competed in the 1997 Tour de France, which was his one and only Grand Tour event. At the Tour, he had three top-20 results, including a seventh in Stage 1. He was eliminated from the Tour in Stage 9 because his finish time was outside the time limit.

As Canada’s top sprinter, Fraser represented his country at three Summer Olympics in men’s road racing. His best result was 16th at the 2000 Sydney Games. He also was 75th at the 1996 Atlanta Games, but didn’t finish the 2004 Athens Games.

Fraser also wore Canadian colours at five Commonwealth Games and was the men’s road-race silver medallist at the 1999 Pan-Am Games. During the Canadian championships, he placed first in 2004 in the men’s road race and was runner-up in 2000.

After retiring as a competitive cyclist in 2006, Fraser spent more than 10 years as a sports director for teams in North America, South America and Asia. He coached the Canadian team in 2013 and was the director sportif for the Canadian-based Silber Pro Cycling team from 2014-18.

His achievements earned him many honours – Ottawa Sports Awards co-athlete of the year with another cyclist Linda Jackson for 1994, Ottawa cyclist of the year seven times, and Nepean Sports Wall of Fame induction in 1995.

Today, Fraser is the performance director for Project Echelon Racing, a UCI continental pro cycling team.

JIM MICK, TONY RINO, TOM LAWLOR

When it comes to Ottawa high school football, Mick, Rino and Lawlor are at the top of their class for producing champions.

They were the core group of coaches guiding the St. Peter High School Knights to 14 National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association boys’ senior championships from 1994-2019.

The Knights also qualified for five Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Football Bowl Series games and won the National Capital Bowl in 2005 and 2009.

Mick coached the Knights football program for 29 years before retiring in 2022 as a physics teacher and department head for science and business. When St. Peter opened in 1992, he coached the junior team that season as well as in 1993. The senior football program started in 1994 with only 18 players, but the Knights captured the city championship.

The Knights’ football program also saw one player reach the NFL, when Ali Ankou signed as an undrafted player with the Houston Texans in 2017. During the past nine years, Ankou, who played his final two years of high school football at Red Lion Christian Academy in the United States before attending UCLA, has been on nine different NFL rosters, including three teams more than once. He is currently on the Buffalo Bills’ practice roster.

Mick, Rino and Lawlor have retired as teachers at St. Peter.

JOYCE HENRY

A former fullback/flyhalf for the Carleton University Ravens (1991-94) and various club teams in Ottawa, Toronto and Nova Scotia (1992-2000), Henry took her knowledge of the game and understanding of the rule book to become one of the best rugby referees in the world.

From 2003 until she retired in 2012, she was a game official at the 2006 and 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Edmonton and London, England, respectively. She refereed the seventh-place game among her duties in 2010 and was the touch judge for the New Zealand-France semifinal game in 2006.

A member of the inaugural International Rugby Board Elite Women’s Referee Panel in 2011, Henry was called to referee at all the major women’s championships – World University Sevens, Six Nations Women, Nations Cup, European Championships and Rugby World Cup Sevens.

In Canada, her refereeing assignments from 2003-11 included university championships, Canada Summer Games and Rugby Canada championships.

Today, Henry is the director general for policy, advocacy and government affairs in the Canadian government.

LOIS KEMP

Seven years after ringette was invented by North Bay’s Sam Jacks in 1963, Kemp brought the game to Ottawa and more specifically Blackburn Hamlet in the city’s east end, where the arena is now named in her honour.

She became president of the Gloucester Ringette Association in 1973. As a coach, she guided her Gloucester teams to the medal podium – Eastern Regionals, Tween Division, silver medal in 1975 and Canadian championships, Deb Division, bronze medal in 1979.

In 1982, Kemp was inducted into the Ontario Ringette Association Hall of Fame for her dedication and contributions to the growth of ringette. Two years later, she was the first woman inducted onto the Gloucester Sports Club Wall of Fame. At the 1997 Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner, she was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Outside of ringette, Kemp started the Blackburn Community Club to raise money for an outdoor ice rink in 1954 as well as publishing two community newspapers in Blackburn Hamlet. She also was involved with the Blackburn Girl Guides and the Gloucester Historical Society.

Kemp died July 16, 2015 at age 85.