By rdnewsNOW Staff

Oct. 21, 2022

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame introduces 2022 inductees

Feb 7, 2022 | 4:24 PM

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame has selected 11 new inductees this year with two of them being athletes, five builders, and four award winners. All inductees are expected to officially join the Hall of Fame during an Induction Ceremony at the Red Deer Polytechnic Main Theatre on Oct. 21, 2022.

“We are proud to welcome these new Honored Members into the Hall,” said Tracey Kinsella, Executive Director of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. “Their contributions to sport in our province are incredible and humbling. They have truly earned the right to have their names added to our Hall.”

The newest athletes joining the Hall of Fame are:

Darlene Currie – Basketball Athlete

Currie competed in three Pan Am Games 1959, 1963, and 1967 including a bronze medal in 1967. She led Team BC to gold in the first Canada Winter Games in 1967. She was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Basketball B.C Hall of Fame in 2004. Won Gold in the 2005 World Masters Games with the Vancouver Retreads Basketball team in the +65-category inspiring the film “The Oldest Basketball Team in the World”.

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Jessica Sloan – Para-Swimming Athlete

Slaon was born in Calgary in 1982 without a left hand. She competed at the IPC world championships in Christchurch, NZ in 1998, winning six gold medals, three of them setting world records. In the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, Sloan won six gold medals, all of them breaking world record times.

George Kingston – Hockey Builder

Kingston started his coaching career at the University of Calgary where he succeeded in bringing home five Western University championships during 16 seasons. He coached the Canadian Men’s Team to a gold medal in the 1988 Spengler Cup. Kingston was head coach of Team Canada in 1996 winning Canada’s first gold medal in 33 years at the IIHF World Hockey Championships in Italy. Recipient of the 2019 Order of Hockey Canada and inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.

Jackie Rae Greening – Curling Builder

Rae Greening has played major roles in Provincial, National, and World Championships curling events including the 2005 Tim Hortons Brier, 2007 Ford Worlds Men’s Curling Championships, 2009 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, and the 2017 Alberta Provincial Ladies Scott Tournament of Hearts. She continues promoting and building the sport with her broadcasting experience such as doing the commentating for the 2017 Junior World Curling Championship held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

David Legg – Multisport/Paralympic Builder

Legg is a professor at Mount Royal University in the Department of Health and Physical Education. He has worked with Wheelchair Sports Alberta, the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and the International Paralympic Committee. He helped found the Children’s Adapted Physical Activity (CAPA)program, a play-based physical activity program for children with disabilities at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Founder and lead organizer of the Calgary and Area ParaSport and Recreation Collective.

Dale & Daryl O’Brien – Canoe/Kayak Builder

The twin brothers from Coronation, Alberta, are founders of the Edmonton Whitewater Paddling (EWP) club, established in 1973. They are responsible for the creation of Canada Canoe Polo, the national sporting body for the sport. Their contribution to the canoe and kayak community has been instrumental in growing the sport nationwide.

Donald Buchignani – Swimming Builder

Buchignani has spent more than 45 years supporting youth in sport, especially in the sport of swimming. He has served as a coach and official for Swim Alberta and Swim Canada. He has served on the Board of directors from Swim Alberta and the University of Calgary Swim Club. He has held leadership positions at multipole international swimming events including Team Manager for Canada’s Olympic Swim Team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Daryl Slade – Bell Memorial Award

For over forty years Slade has served as a statistician for hockey, baseball, and football in Alberta. He was a prominent reporter for the Calgary Herald covering a range of sports from hockey and football to canoeing and motorsports. He is a successful author of three books on the history of Calgary Stampeders, and one on the life and accomplishments of football legend Ezzrett ‘Sugarfoot’ Anderson.

Bruce O’Neil & Robbie McNab – Achievement Award

Co-coaches for Cochran’s Cobra’s High School Football team for since 1991, O’Neil and McNab have created an outstanding record winning 14 of 16 Provincial Championships. They have the longest winning streak in Alberta ASAA high school football with 40 wins (2014-18) and an overall record of 290 wins to 31 losses.

ACAC Founding Members – Pioneer Award

Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) has enjoyed a rich and colorful history spanning 58 years of contributions to the Alberta and National sport landscape. The first executive officers of the Western Intercollege Conference were Dr. Gary Bowie, Mr. Ben Books, Mr. Al Buttle, and Mr. Gary Meadus. Dr. Gary Bowie, Chairman of the College Conference is quoted as saying the purpose is “To encourage student participating in various athletic and cultural events using competition among the various junior colleges and institutions of technology.” That purpose 58 years later still holds true for the ACAC.

Guy Weadick & Flores LaDue Weadick – Pioneer Award

In 1912, Guy Weadick & Flores LaDue founded the Calgary Stampede, Canada’s first and most significant celebrations of western sport and heritage through rodeo and western competition. When Guy and Flores arrived in Calgary with the idea of hosting a “Frontier Day Celebration and Cowboy Contest” which would honor the history of the West through the sport of rodeo. In 1923 Weadick created the sport of chuckwagon racing. The Calgary Stampede remains one of the premier stops on the North America rodeo circuit.