The 2024 inductees and award winners represent a wide array of sports

The theme of this year’s Huntsville Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony could be “all sports.”

That’s because the Hall committee made sure to expand their horizons and really look beyond the traditional Huntsville sports of lacrosse and hockey. While they have done that on and off in the past, this year is especially eclectic.

As Wendy McConnell notes, the Hall of Fame committee members were aiming to bring attention to the achievements of our community members in a variety of sports.

“We’re trying to take in more diverse sports and be inclusive,” says Hall of Famer McConnell, who is also on the selection committee. “We’ve got some great names in the Hall who deserve to be there . . . we’ve got Olympians like Dan Roycroft in cross country skiing, and of course our slope style skiing gold medalist Dara Howell. We have a lot of athletes going places in a bunch of different sports and we have to make sure to follow and recognize their careers.”

This year’s inductees include athletes Dan Shirtliff (auto racing) and Bob Peppler (pro hocky and lacrosse); coach Nancy Tapley (equestrian); builder Rusty Drew (curling); builder Claude Doughty (recreation and community infrastructure); and the 1999 Huntsville High School Nordic Ski Team (Tarah Habermehl, Kaitlyn Habermehl, Katie McPherson, Sarah Strickland, Heather deLagran, Greg Baker, Matt Wilson, David Tovee, Ian Drennan, Ryan Sandilands, coach John Cowan and coach Alison Waddington).

As has become an annual event, the sports people of the year will also be recognized with Martha Lapp being the Jan Glenn Award Winner this year, and Lucas Allen winning the Mike Greaves Award.

The Peter Jacob Award will be given to Lorna and Jim Popofski for their huge efforts in forming and growing the local Pickleball Association – which gains in popularity year after year.

Shirtliff is a renowned CASCAR driver who became a champion driver in the 1990s. He won the eastern and national championships in 1996. And is also a beloved car enthusiast on the local scene.

Peppler was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971, playing a short stint in the NHL, before going on to play Junior A lacrosse in Huntsville and St. Catharines (where he won a MVP award), and in 1974 he signed a pro lacrosse contract with Philadelphia. He eventually returned to Huntsville and played masters senior lacrosse, helping the team to a national championship in 1997.

Tapley, is a NCCP certified equestrian coach in dressage and jumping events. She coached the Canadian paralympic dressage team for over five years. During her time, they won the national champions and competed in the Olympic Games in Atlanta, the European Championships in Portgual, and the World Championships in Denmark.

The late Drew was a member of the Huntsville Curling Club who invented an apparatus called the extender in 1998. He and his wife were curlers, but his wife developed arthritis and was confined to a wheelchair and was unable to use the regular curling broom. So, he invented and patented the extender to allow her to curl. The extender was used at the first-ever wheelchair championships in 2002 in Switzerland and was endorsed by the Paralympic Committee.

“He was conducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame, and we’re catching up to induct him into the Huntsville Sports Hall of Fame,” says McConnell. “His daughter will be there to accept the honour on his behalf.”

During Doughty’s time as Mayor of Huntsville, he was instrumental in creating many new recreational spaces including the Active Living Centre, Conroy Park, new ball diamonds, and more.

The 1999 HHS Nordic Ski Team (men’s and women’s) won a birth at the prestigious international school sport federation ski championships in the Czech Republic. The boys placed 12^th, the girls placed 5^th with the girls’ team winning the fair play award.

Lapp has volunteered in the community for over 30 years, coaching house league and rep teams in a variety of sports, as well as volunteering for the Ironman, the Golf Fore the Girls events, and much more.

Allen is a jiu jitsu, judo, and grappling champion. He won silver and bronze at the 2023 Canada Winter Games. The silver came with Team Ontario in judo and the bronze was in the 81-plus kg individual judo category.

The ceremony will take place at the Active Living Centre (7 Camp Kitchen Road) on Saturday, October 5 with tickets available (but going quickly) for the celebration of sport in the community.

Tickets to the event are $25 each, and can be purchased in person at Reflections of Muskoka or online at Hall of Fame Tickets. If any are left, they may be available at the door as well.

Volunteer-led Community Entity

The Huntsville Sports Hall of Fame is a completely volunteer-run entity with the current committee members consisting of Wendy McConnell, Jane Wolfe, George Young, Kenneth Donald, Erin Jacob, Bill Payne, Karin Terziano, and Brian Thompson.

The Hall of Fame doesn’t have a physical location, but there is a traditional member sign and interactive touch-screen kiosk that has information on all the members as part of the Canada Summit Centre’s sports displays.

The sports area at the Summit Centre (20 Park Drive) features memorabilia, photography, and information about athletes, sporting achievements, and significant events in this area. For a full list of all the athletes, coaches, managers, builders, and teams in the Huntsville Sports Hall of Fame, visit their website: https://hshf.ca/ and follow their Facebook page and Instagram account.