Sports Hall of Fame inductees for 2023 to be announced soon

By Cecilia Nasmith

The Cobourg and District Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to host the announcement of a fourth round of inductees on March 5 at the Cobourg Community Centre from 2 to 4 p.m.

As well, a second round of winners for the Ross Quigley Youth In Sports Award will be announced.

The award is named after the man who spearheaded the effort to make the dream of a local sports hall of fame become a reality, an effort that has involved a dedicated group of volunteers who have worked since 2017 on collecting and cataloguing sports memorabilia and historical information in order to preserve the community's rich legacy of sports (as well as a number of local individuals and community groups who have supported the effort financially and through the donation of materials and services).

Eight inductees have been announced in each round, the first of them in March 2019, with an induction banquet following a few months later.

A second group of eight was announced in March 2020, though COVID-19 delayed the banquet by many months and cancelled a 2021 induction.

A third group of eight was announced in March 2022, and the banquet followed on schedule – the first in which the guests of honour included the young recipients of the award created in memory of Ross Quigley.

These 25 outstanding individuals (one of the inductees was actually a husband-and-wife team) include those who excelled at – among other things – NHL hockey, long-distance running, feats of strength, lawn bowling, softball and fastball, as well as local heroes supporting sports in their home communities like coaches extraordinaire, uber volunteers, passionate supporters and even one indefatigable journalist.

Not to mention Quigley, who was inducted in 2022.

The area covered by the Sports Hall of Fame is Cobourg, Alderville First Nation and the Townships of Alnwick-Haldimand, Hamilton and Cramahe. From these communities, nominations have been received and reviewed by a separate selection committee to select the inductees who will be announced March 5. The formal induction ceremony will take place at the Best Western Cobourg Inn and Convention Centre on June 16.

The Cobourg Community Centre is located at 750 D'Arcy St., and members of the public are invited to the announcements.

For more information on the Cobourg and District Sports Hall of Fame, visit www.cdshf.ca or contact info@cdshf.ca