The Humboldt and District Sports Hall of Fame has announced their 2017 induction class.
This year’s class contains five inductees including one team, one builder and three athletes/builders.
Entering the hall as a team are the 2007-2008 Humboldt Junior A Broncos, who join the 2002-2003 team, the only other Broncos’ team to capture the National Junior A Championship.
Wendy Toye was announced as the latest entrant into the builder wing of the hall of fame. Toye has enjoyed a highly successful career as a figure skating coach that has spanned more than 50 years and includes five Skate Canada Saskatchewan Volunteer Awards.
A trio of former athletes turned coaches are also being inducted this year including Kelly Bates, Brad Lauer, and Jerome Engele.
Bates is a former HCI student who played nine plus seasons in the Canadian Football League, before transitioning to the coaching ranks holding various positions with the BC Lions and now holding the head coaching position with Canada’s only National Collegiate Athletics Association, the Simon Fraser University Clan.
Engele started his hockey career in Humboldt, before moving on to play for the Saskatoon Blades for five seasons. Engele eventually played 100 games in the National Hockey League over parts of three seasons with the Minnesota North Stars before returning to the Blades where he served as head coach and assistant coach, a position he still currently holds.
Lauer was born and raised in Humboldt where he played minor hockey until the age of 15 before leaving to play hockey at Notre Dame College in Wilcox for a season.
Lauer then moved on to play three seasons for the Regina Pats, before breaking in to the NHL with the New York Islanders. Lauer went on to play 323 games in the NHL over parts of nine season with four different franchises including the Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
After retiring from hockey Lauer joined the coaching ranks starting in Kootenay of the WHL, ultimately ending up at his current job with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
Humboldt and District Sports Hall of Fame Committee Treasurer Aaron Lukan says deserve recognition for their contributions in putting Humboldt and area on the map in the sporting world.
Inductees are chosen through a nomination process, which is posted on the Humboldt Museum website with inductees required to fit certain eligibility.
Athletes nominated must have been a resident of Humboldt or district who has represented sport with distinction in an athletic competition either inside or outside the province and has complied an outstanding record, extending over a period of time in one or more sports.
Builders meanwhile, also must have been a resident of Humboldt or district during the time of their outstanding service, while also serving sport in a period of at least ten years which does not have to be in one sport or in succession.
Teams must have won a National or World Championship, must have been based in Humboldt during this time, must have been composed of area residents at the time of winning and must contain more than two members.
Lukan notes that one of the things the hall tries to do is wait until the nominee’s career is complete, or in some cases mostly complete, like in the case for Engele, Bates, Lauer, and Toye.
“At some point in time you just want to make sure you get them in there when they can still celebrate with their family’s… We’re just trying to get them in even though they are still all active.”
If a nominee is unsuccessful, Lukan notes that the committee does hold on to the nominees for future years.
Lukan notes that they also moved the date of the ceremony for this year from November to late June to accommodate the inductees, with Lauer, Engele and Bates all possibly busy coaching until June.
This year’s event will also be unique, says Lukan because they are planning to unveil a new project the night of the induction ceremony.
