PA Sports Hall of Fame announces 33rd induction class

Nathan Reiter/Daily Herald The 33rd induction class of the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame. Pictured from left to right: Elizabeth Tenaski, Frank Dunn, Lonny Akers, Rene Quintal, Tom Brothwell, Brent Zbaraschuk, Darrin Rask, Jerry Heffernan, Danny Carrier, Marlon Sachkowski and Nnamdi Ndubuka. Not pictured but also part of the induction class: Roger Mayert.

The banquet may not be for a few more months, but the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame announced the class of 2025 at Art Hauser Centre on Friday morning.

2025 will make the 33rd induction class for the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame. This year, nine inductees will be enshrined including four in the athlete category, three in the builder category, one in the meritorious service category and two teams.

Barry Mihilewicz, the president for the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame, says the strong number of nominations was a major reason for the large size of the induction class.

“There were so many people who were qualified. It was actually almost impossible to decide. We had probably double that many nominations and it was just so close. We felt that we’ll put as many as we can this year.”

“It’s really nice for sort of continuity for us and that we know there’s a lot of people out there who deserve to be inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame. The question is, do people take the time to nominate them and clearly they are. People are realizing just how important it is and just what an honour it is to be inducted into the hall. Most people don’t do this for this kind of recognition, but it’s nice to be recognized. I think recognition encourages future generations of athletes and builders and the whole thing.”

Joining the Hall of Fame this year is Elizabeth (Hudon) Tenaski (athlete), Frank Dunn (athlete), Lonny Akers (athlete), Rene Quintal (builder), Tom Brothwell (builder), Brent Zbaraschuk (builder), Roger Mayert (meritorious service), the 1984-87 Birch Hills Marauders boys basketball teams and the 1975-78 Meath Park Mustangs six man football teams.

Every year, the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame honours a sports organization from around the city in addition to the induction class. The Prince Albert Youth Soccer Association was given the Organization of the Year honours and were represented at the press conference by president Nnamdi Ndubuka.

2025 will mark the first induction banquet since the passing of Bruce Vance last year after a years long battle with cancer.. Vance served as a vice-president on the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame board and was involved in many areas of sport in the Prince Albert community.

Mihilewicz says Vance had a positive impact on the Sports Hall of Fame and his legacy has continued on.

“Bruce was a huge part of the sporting community in Prince Albert. He was definitely somebody who made things happen and he did it with a big smile on his face and he brought sunshine everywhere he went. Clearly it’s difficult, I think a lot of this we are doing in his honour and we really feel like his presence is with us. Clearly his spirit lives on.”

See future editions of the Daily Herald for features on all 2025 Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame inductees. The banquet will be held in the Ches Leach Lounge on Saturday, May 3. Tickets are available by contacting Jody Boulet at pashof@citypa.com

sports@paherald.sk.ca

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