Five athletes, three builders, and one team slated for Induction into Caledon Sports Hall of Fame

October 10, 2024 · 0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

The Town of Caledon announced five athletes, three builders, and one team will comprise the Caledon Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.

The Induction Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, from 7-9 p.m. at the Caledon East Community Complex banquet hall.

Mayor Annette Groves noted the 2024 Induction Ceremony was well-received by invitees and inductees.

“Our first annual ceremony was a great success this past January, and I encourage our community to get involved by purchasing tickets and/or becoming a sponsor for this fantastic event.”

In addition to encouraging residents to attend and/or sponsor the ceremony, Mayor Groves said she was impressed by the variety of athletes and builders that comprise the Class of 2025.

“We are excited to gather in January to celebrate our newest inductees to our Sport Hall of Fame, representing a wide array of sports in our community.”

The range of sports to which Mayor Groves alluded is evident in this year’s list of honorees:

Athlete Category: Lisa Bentley – Triathlete; Beverly (McKnight) Holden – Synchronized Swimmer; Zoe MacKinnon – Field Hockey; Keith McCreary – Ice Hockey; Douglas Wood – Pole Vaulter.

Builder Category: Angus Doughty – Nordic Skiing Coach/High School Sports Coach; Barrie Shepley – Triathlon Coach; Douglas Wood – Pole Vaulting Coach.

Team Category: 1967 Bolton Kinsmen Juvenile ‘C’ Team: Don Casey, Jim Casey, Bill Clements, John Deachman, Jim Farquharson, Eugene Fewster, Perry Ford, Wayne Kirby, Karl Koper, Dale Lemon, John Lostchuck (manager), Chris Markey, Peter Markle (trainer), Bruce Matson, Roy McKay (coach), Harvey Newlove, Ted Praught, and Rob Salvian.

The 2025 inductees will join the nine current members of the Caledon Sport Hall of Fame:

Bert McCaffrey who played seven seasons in the NHL and won a Stanley Cup in 1930 with the Montreal Canadiens. He scored a remarkable twenty goals in five games to lead Team Canada to a Gold Medal in the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. McCaffrey—who passed away in 1955—played eight seasons of OHA Senior Hockey prior to playing in the NHL;

Laurie Graham was Canada’s top female downhill skier in the 1980’s and a three-time Olympian in 1980, 1984, and 1988. Graham captured a bronze medal in the 1982 World Championships, procured six World Cup victories, three national titles, and was the first Canadian to win on home snow at the first World Cup downhill event held at Mont Tremblant, Quebec. She was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998;

Bob Knuckey, an elite triathlete, won the Toronto Marathon in 1976 with a finishing time of 2:28 and has won dozens of national and international masters titles in his running career. As a 58-year-old, Knuckey started competing in the triathlon and has captured four Ironman World Championships, including the Hawaii Ironman 70-74 category and, more recently, the 2023 Ironman World Championship in Nice, France. Knuckey was a local teacher and coach in Caledon for thirty-seven years;

Robin Platts is one of the three jockeys to win the King’s Plate a record four times. Platts accrued over 3,200 victories on horseback and competed in over 20,400 races during his 35-year career. The 30-year resident of Bolton won the Sovereign Award as Canada’s Top Jockey in 1979, the Avelino Gomez Award in 1992 for contributions to horse racing in Canada, and was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1997;

Bill Whitbread was a long-time editor and reporter of The Caledon Enterprise. The legendary sports reporter, who passed away in 2014, attended all championship games at playoffs and tournaments in Caledon and Bolton. Whithead made sure that he photographed the important moments in local sports and provided through his reporting a rich history of sports events in the region. He was a tireless community sports advocate and promoted local athletes in his newspaper articles for decades;

Conn Smythe bought land for a farm in Caledon in 1951 to breed race horses. Smythe’s stable won the King’s Plate twice and hosted the 1963 World Plowing Championships on his farm in 1963. Smythe—the legendary owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1927-1961 and the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens—was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1977. The sportsman—after whom the Conn Smythe Trophy for the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is named—passed away in 1980;

Gord Everett was a dedicated and remarkable basketball coach who was the Bench Boss of Team Ontario from 2012 to 2019. Two athletes that were born and raised in Bolton and who played for the Canadian National Women’s Team were mentored by Coach Everett. Everett was recognized as the Ontario Basketball Elite Coach of the Year in 2012. Everett pioneered the Elite OSBA program at Humberview SS;

The 2004 Mayfield Secondary School Girls Nordic Ski Team captured the Provincial Championship and a host of other honors twenty years ago. The quintet—featuring Brittany Webster, Julie Porter, Gillian Montgomery, Brittany Barclay, and Robyn Kemp – went on to skiing scholarships and careers in myriad settings around the world.

The Caledon Sports Hall of Fame is located on the second floor of the Caledon East Community Complex.

Tickets to the 2025 CSHOF induction ceremony are $65 per person or tables can be purchased for $350 (6 tickets).

To purchase tickets and for more information on current Hall of Fame members and our new inductees, please visit Caledon.ca/CSHOF. The Town is currently accepting applications for the following categories of sponsorship: Presenting Sponsor; Awards Sponsor; Print Sponsor; and Community Sponsor. For more details and to apply, contact [email protected].