OTTAWA, ON – The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 will feature individuals with legacies dating back to the early 1900s and to others still growing their own.
World-Champion and 2026 Olympics-bound curlers Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew headline this year’s group of inductees alongside hockey player Jason York, football player Val St. Germain, community builder Keith Brown, the 1976 Centennial Cup-champion Rockland Nationals, plus eight more historic honourees in the Legacy Category.
Tickets are now on sale for the 2026 induction ceremony, which will take place on Wednesday, May 27 at Lansdowne Park’s Horticultural Building.
The induction of active athletes represents a change in eligibility policy for the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame, inspired in no small part by Homan and Miskew’s dominance of the curling world.
“What we’re saying is, ‘If you’ve won a world championship, or an Olympic medal or a major international sporting event, and your achievements are indisputably Hall of Fame worthy, then we’re not going to make you wait (for retirement) to be eligible,’” says Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame Chair Dave Best.
“Rachel and Emma have not only won multiple world and Canadian championships, but they’ve been at the very top of their sport for an exceptional period of time. We’re excited to see what they’re still going to achieve in the future, but they’re also unquestionably already among our city’s best ever.
“We’re thrilled to welcome them to the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame along with a really storied group that’s left their mark from the community level up to the peak stages in sport.”
RACHEL HOMAN & EMMA MISKEW (ATHLETES – CURLING)
Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew have shared their curling journeys from the day they threw their first stones as five-year-olds in a Little Rocks program.
Set to enter the Ottawa Sport Hall as individuals, Homan and Miskew have teamed up with other curlers from Ottawa as well as partners from out of town over the years as they rose up the ranks.
But the pair of Ottawa Curling Club athletes have been together the whole way since they officially joined forces as teammates at age 12 and quickly collected four consecutive Ontario Bantam titles from 2003 to 2006, followed by a 2007 Canada Winter Games gold medal.
In 2010, the Homan-skipped rink went undefeated to win the Canadian junior nationals and earned a world junior silver medal.
Homan and Miskew captured their first of five Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian women’s titles in Kingston in 2013, then won a world bronze medal. They then repeated as Canadian champions in 2014 and improved to world silver.
The pair was victorious again at the 2017 Scotties and became the first team in the history of the women’s world championships to post an undefeated record.
With two new players in their lineup, Homan and Miskew were later part of the first team to go through a Scotties tournament undefeated in 2024. They repeated that feat in 2025 and brought home their second consecutive world title.
In Fall 2025, Homan and Miskew also broke the record for the most Grand Slam of Curling victories in either the men’s or women’s divisions with their 19th tournament triumph.
In Olympic competition, Homan and Miskew placed sixth at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics after winning the 2017 Roar of the Rings trials in their hometown. At the 2022 Olympics, Homan was fifth with John Morris in mixed doubles.
Now, both Homan and Miskew are set to return to the Games as Canada’s representatives for the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games after winning the Canadian trials in November.
JASON YORK (ATHLETE – HOCKEY)
Jason York played in 14 NHL seasons from 1992 to 2007, most notably helping to kickstart the Ottawa Senators’ run of 11 consecutive playoff appearances during the franchise’s most successful period.
The former Nepean Raiders minor hockey and Smiths Falls Bears junior defender broke into the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and scored his first goal against fellow Nepean product Fred Brathwaite.
Regarded for his reliability, solid positioning, high hockey IQ and overall defensive prowess, York enjoyed his finest offensive season in 1998-99 when he recorded 35 points to lead all Senators defencemen in scoring.
York also dressed for the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators before winning a Swiss league title with HC Lugano and then concluding his career back in the NHL with Boston in 2007. He has worked in media after his playing career, coached many minor teams and was a part owner of the CCHL’s Kemptville 73’s.
VAL ST. GERMAIN (ATHLETE – FOOTBALL)
Fourteen-year veteran Val St. Germain was one of the most durable offensive linemen in CFL history, and he’s had an imposing impact off the field as well.
The Westboro Wolverines and Myers Riders product was a two-time All-Canadian guard and a Male Athlete of the Year at McGill University before he was selected first overall in the 1994 CFL draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The three-time all-star also played for Ottawa, where he was the team’s nominee for Outstanding Canadian & Outstanding Lineman in 2005, as well as Montreal, Edmonton and Saskatchewan, where he won the Grey Cup in 2007.
St. Germain played a total of 204 CFL regular-season games, which is among the top 1% in league history while playing one of football’s most unforgiving positions.
He’s continued to coach with local programs, including the Carleton University Ravens, Nepean Eagles and St. Joseph Jaguars – where he was part of the first high school girls’ tackle football game in Canada – and he was recently presented with the CFL Alumni Association Indigenous Champion Award for advancing Indigenous representation within the game and community.
KEITH BROWN (BUILDER – COMMUNITY)
Known as the “Mayor of Mechanicsville,” Keith Brown’s extensive volunteerism in sport spans more than seven decades.
The 96-year-old has mentored countless young athletes, always emphasizing personal growth. He’s organized youth soccer clinics, school programs, local leagues in many sports, charitable events, and he’s worked hard behind the scenes to ensure that every child has access to sport regardless of background or ability.
Brown was constantly coaching youth hockey teams and running the canteen at the arena named after his uncle Tom for many years, serving as a minor hockey administrator, organizing youth hockey tournaments, and flooding and maintaining the outdoor rink at Laroche Park.
He’s led many more community sports programs and fitness initiatives, plus summer and winter festivals at Laroche Park, and he remains a driving force behind the Mechanicsville Community Association alongside his family.
In 2023, the Keith Brown Community Building was opened at Laroche Park to again illustrate his impact on Ottawa’s sports landscape, which is both profound and enduring.
1976 ROCKLAND NATIONALS JUNIOR HOCKEY TEAM
The Rockland Nationals will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of their Centennial Cup national Junior A hockey championship as they’re inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame.
In just their third season since the club was moved from Hull (when the Olympiques arrived), the Nationals enjoyed a miraculous 1975-76 season under the direction of head coach Bryan Murray, an Ottawa Sport Hall of Famer.
One of the toughest rivals on the Nationals’ road to the national crown came in the CJHL championship against the Gloucester Rangers, which featured many close games and was decided in overtime before more than 1,400 fans in Rockland – a town of 4,000 at the time.
The Nationals then defeated the Lac Megantic Royals 4-1 in the next series to advance to face the Ontario league-champion Guelph Platers. The Nationals fell behind 3-0, but roared back to win 4-3.
Rockland then swept the Charlottetown Islanders 4-0 to advance to the Centennial Cup final against Alberta’s Spruce Grove Mets. Extra seats were built into the arena to allow 1,700 fans in for the championship series, which Rockland won 4-1 as 17-year-old rookie Gerry Leroux was named MVP. The Nationals remain one of only two clubs from the Central league to win the national title.
LEGACY CATEGORY
There will be eight new additions to the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame from earlier in the city’s sports history, inducted as part of the Legacy Category. They are the 1906 world-champion Capital Lacrosse Club, golfer Vera Charlebois, horse trainer Paul Peter Barber and boxer son Joe Andrew Barber, skier Bud Clark, speed skater Françoise Desbiens, and original Ottawa Senators and long-time NHLers Joe Lamb and Allan Shields.
More details and full features on all the upcoming inductees and Legacy members will be shared in the weeks leading up to the 2026 induction ceremony on Wednesday, May 27 at Lansdowne Park’s Horticultural Building.
Tickets are $135 each, $1,275 for a table of 10 or $2,000 for a premium table (preferred table location, 10 tickets, 10 drink tickets, 4 bottles of wine, on-site recognition if desired). They can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2026-ottawa-sport-hall-of-fame-induction-evening-tickets-1980458186749.
Find out more about the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame at OttawaSportHall.ca.
