Inductees for 2023 took their rightful place in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Friday night, during a ceremony in Red Deer.
This year’s class includes the following people:
Andrew Buckley – Football Athlete
Mike Johnson – Baseball Athlete
Helen Upperton – Bobsleigh Athlete
Cara Currie Hall – Multisport Builder
Allan Ferchuk – Multisport Builder
Lauralyn Radford – Multisport Builder
Greg Peterson – Football Builder
1991-1994 Olds Grizzlys – Hockey Team
Wilf Brooks – Achievement Award
Mark Stephen – Bell Memorial Award
Dr. Marcus Dunsworth – Pioneer Award
Bios can be found here.
Among many other events, Red Deer’s Lauralyn Radford, inductee in the Multisport Builder category, was a pivotal player in bringing the 2019 Canada Winter Games to Red Deer.
“I’m still in a state of disbelief. When I got the call, I was really taken aback. I look at the list of inductees and think ‘How do I fit into that?’ It’s unbelievable to me,” she said Friday night.
Lauralyn Radford. (rdnewsNOW file photo)“What really got me motivated early on was the gymnastics club in Red Deer. I was part of that group when we had a terrible facility, so I approached The City and said something had to be done. There were 2,000 young people attending that facility we had, and it did not meet the needs. Two or three years later, we had the dedicated facility at the Collicutt Centre.”
Ferchuk, also a local inductee, and in the Multisport Builder category as well, has spent 50 years dedicating his life to sport, including as president of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association.
“The highlight of my work has been the connections I’ve made with people in the community. I’ve come to love so many people, whether it be through the Canada Games board, Central Sport, or going back to Red Deer Minor Baseball,” says Ferchuk.
Allan Ferchuk in June 2022. (rdnewsNOW file photo)“Red Deer College was a leader, in my opinion, in post-secondary sport, and that’s one of the main reasons we stayed in Red Deer. What’s exciting for me is that I think RDP is turning the corner and coming back into that role as a leader for young people in sport.”
Ferchuk won national hockey championships as a coach in 1977, 1979 and 1980, with then Red Deer College.
Chris Stewart, meantime, was head coach of the 1991-1994 Olds Grizzlys, which won three straight AJHL championships. The team remains just one of two ever to win three consecutive titles, and it won the 1994 Canadian Junior A Championship.
“Walking up the stairs here to see all these guys again really puts a couple years under my belt, but also it gives me the chance to be reacquainted with these guys who were boys when I first knew them; now they have families,” Stewart reflected.
“They were some really special teams, and it wasn’t just about speed and skill — it was more about being a team. Those guys stuck together through thick and thin, we got better and better, and then we were Canadian champions.”
Thirty-four alumni from those teams are in town this weekend for additional activities on top of the Hall of Fame ceremony, from as far away as Czechia and Colorado.
The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is located at 4200 Queen Elizabeth II Highway, Unit #102, in Red Deer.
