By Keiran Gorsky
The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame welcomed new athletes, a builder, a team, eight legacy inductees and a children’s author to the Hall at a ceremony on May 27 at the Horticulture Building in Lansdowne Park.
That children’s author also happens to be a pretty solid curler, but you can make that title the latest addition to Rachel Homan’s resume, joining other points such as three-time Olympian, Olympic medallist, three-time world champion and the winningest skip in Gland Slam of Curling History.
She and forever teammate Emma Miskew headlined the event as the Hall defied tradition and inducted Homan and Miskew before their retirement given the indisputable Hall of Fame pedigree they’ve already accrued.
The lifelong friends and teammates both broke into tears in heartfelt acceptance speeches.
“It’s amazing to be honoured by your city and, you know, such incredible support throughout our entire career,” Homan said afterwards.
The 37-year-old mother of three has kept herself quite busy since capturing a comeback bronze medal at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Homan made her first foray into children’s literature with Curling ABCs: Slide, Sleep, and Find, a picture book aiming to explain the basics of the sport to a younger audience.
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“The book is so well done, it’s got so much detail,” Miskew offered her endorsement.
Homan signed soft and hardcover editions of the book throughout the night at her dining table. Among the items at the silent auction after dinner were artist’s renditions of the two Olympic medalists.
CFL offensive lineman Val St. Germain, NHL defenceman Jason York, community builder Keith Brown and the 1976 Centennial Cup-champion Rockland Nationals rounded out the list of inductees.
Harness racer Paul Barber, boxer Joe Barber, original Ottawa Senators Joe Lamb and Allan Shields, speed skater Françoise Desbiens, skier Bud Clark, golfer Vera Charlebois and the 1906 Capital Lacrosse Club were the eight legacy inductees. Several descendants of the legacy inductees – all deceased and mostly from eras before the Ottawa Sport Hall was founded in 1966 – were present to accept induction trophies on their behalf.
“I was born and raised here and have competed on behalf of Ottawa for my whole life,” noted Miskew, who got very choked up as she thanked her family during her remarks. “It’s really nice to be here with so many other great people representing my city.”
Val St. Germain carries on The King tradition
A year after Elvis Sighting Society guru (and world-class snooker player) Ervin Budge was inducted, St. Germain helped carry on the Hall’s unusual streak of inducting Elvis Presley lovers.
St. Germain is best known as a veteran of 14 CFL seasons who is among the 99th percentile for most games played in his offensive lineman position.
Since retiring as a Grey Cup champion in 2007, St. Germain has served as a coach for the Carleton University Ravens, along with several more youth teams including the Nepean Eagles and St. Joseph Jaguars.
“It was very nice. It’s an honour that I wasn’t expecting,” he highlighted. “The fact that I had a lot of support from former teammates and my family – that’s the best part for me. Just seeing guys and teammates and family. They’re the ones who made my evening.”
St. Germain offered some additional insight into his Elvis Presley obsession, detailed in his inductee profile by the Hall of Fame. During his time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, St. Germain kept a bust of the King in his own dedicated locker.
“Which is funny because sometimes you run out of locker space,” St. Germain recalled. “Some of the rookies, some of the young players, they wouldn’t even have their own lockers.”
Elvis was dropped repeatedly, glued back together repeatedly and eventually scrapped.
Each inductee brought with them boisterous contingents. Friends and family members of 96-year-old “Mayor of Mechanicsville” Keith Brown could be seen wearing custom shirts honouring his inclusion.
Former teammates of York and St. Germain were also present, plus representatives from the Ottawa Senators, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group and the CCHL’s Rockland Nationals and many of the ’76 players who marked 50 years since their national junior ‘A’ title.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe gave a speech before inductions began to the sold-out crowd that packed the Horticulture Building to the brim.
Full inductee profiles, videos and a photo gallery of the evening are available on the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame’s website here.
Rogers TV will rebroadcast the ceremony in the coming weeks.