Weyburn Comp teacher Blake Johnson, along with fellow teacher and coach Darren Abel, are spearheading an effort to establish an athlete wall of fame for the Weyburn Comprehensive School, and are looking for help to identify and contact people.
Johnson, who will be retiring at the end of this school year, got the idea for the wall from visiting high schools in other communities as he travelled with Comp teams for tournaments.
“Places like North Battleford have displays of every person who has ever been awarded or gone on to do things. We thought we could get a start with the athletes,” said Johnson, noting their idea is recognize every athlete who has gone on to other levels of sports at the university level.
He gave the late Darold Kot as an example, as most people know him as a former football coach in Weyburn. The idea would be to recognize him as an athlete at the university level, and noted his wife, Lynn, has said she will help in that effort.
In the future, the wall could also pay recognition to athletes who didn’t play school sports but have gone on to greater things, such as Kelsey Jensen, who is playing waterpolo in Europe, or those who have played semi-pro sports like hockey or baseball, such as Preston Shupe in hockey.
To get the wall established first, however, Johnson said their focus will be on school-based sports.
They are seeking help to get information, including the student’s name and sport, the college or university they played for, the years they played and any awards they may have won. They are also requesting a photo of the person in uniform, or one from his or her playing days if possible.
One example Johnson provided was of a student whose grandfather had recently passed away, and had apparently played basketball at university. The student didn’t know, but after checking with her family, she came back to confirm that her grandfather had indeed played basketball.
Johnson said the hope is to find out names of past students from over the years, not just recent grads, who have played university or college-level sports.
Those interested can send information to Johnson at the Comp at [email protected].
