The Order of Sport is a national level award established in 2019 by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. It is awarded alongside induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and regarded as Canada's highest sporting honour. [1]
The Order of Sport is a national level award established in 2019 by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. It is awarded alongside induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and regarded as Canada's highest sporting honour. [1]
Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1955 as a recognition program and a historical archive of sport in Canada. The award is a symbol of the organization's purpose to build Canada through the transformative power of sport. Canada's Sports Hall of Fame created the Order of Sport award to modernize recognition and reflect the growing cultural significance of sport to Canadians; one that connects Canada's greatest sports champions to the greater good. [1]
In October 2019, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame presented the inaugural Order of Sport Award to the class of 2019; [2] six athletes and two builders were awarded the Order of Sport. [3]
The Order of Sport symbol represents the broader and open-ended social purpose of Sports in Canada reflecting the growing cultural significance of sport to Canadians; one that connects Canada’s greatest sports champions to the greater good. Based on the 1967 Centennial design work of Stuart Ash, [4] Design Canada film maker and graphic designer Greg Durrell's Order of Sport logo represents the unifying power of sport for Canadians.
The recipients of the Order of Sport are recognized with the Order of Sport typographic scarf, a trophy, pin or pendant. [5]
Hayley Wickenheiser is a Canadian former ice hockey player, resident physician and assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was the first woman to play full-time professional men’s hockey in a position other than goalie. Wickenheiser was a member of Canada women's national ice hockey team for 23 years, from 1994 until announcing her retirement on January 13, 2017, and is the team's career points leader with 168 goals and 211 assists in 276 games. She represented Canada at the Winter Olympics five times, capturing four gold and one silver medal and twice being named tournament MVP, and one time at the Summer Olympics in softball, and is a seven-time winner of the world championships. She is tied with teammates Caroline Ouellette and Jayna Hefford for the record for the most gold medals of any Canadian Olympian, and is widely considered to be the greatest female ice hockey player of all time. On February 20, 2014, Wickenheiser was elected to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission. In 2019, she was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame, in her first year of eligibility. She was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2019, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
The Vanier Cup is a post season college football championship game, used to determine the national champion in U Sports football. The game is the final for the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. In turn, the participating teams are determined by the winners of 4 bowl games: the Loney Bowl (AUS), Hardy Cup, Dunsmore Cup (RSEQ), and Yates Cup (OUA).
Lanny King McDonald is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played over 1,100 games during a 16-year career in which he scored 500 goals and over 1,000 points. His total of 66 goals in 1982–83 remains the Flames' franchise record for a single season. As of 2024 McDonald is the only player to be inducted in the Hockey Hall Of Fame for the Colorado Rockies.
Michael Lutrell "Pinball" Clemons is an American-Canadian sports executive and former running back and return specialist who serves as general manager for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is considered by many to be one of the greatest and most famous Argos players of all time, as well as one of the most popular professional athletes in the history of Toronto.
Sheldon Kennedy is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames in the National Hockey League (NHL). Kennedy was drafted by the Red Wings in the fourth round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft while playing with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL). In the WHL, Kennedy helped the Broncos capture the 1989 Memorial Cup, and was named to the tournament all-star team. Kennedy represented Canada internationally at the World Junior Championships in 1988 and 1989. He helped Canada win a gold medal at the 1988 tournament. Kennedy was born in Brandon, Manitoba, but grew up in Elkhorn, Manitoba.
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and museum for accomplished Canadian athletes, and sports builders and officials.
Ronald Donald Southern, was a Canadian businessman. He was the founder and chairman of Calgary-based ATCO Group, and the founder of the Spruce Meadows equestrian centre.
Eric Duhatschek is a Canadian sports journalist. Duhatschek won the 2001 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for distinguished ice hockey journalism and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Duhatschek is also on the selection committee for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Based in Calgary, Alberta, he was the lead hockey columnist for The Globe and Mail and is a writer for The Athletic. Duhatschek rose to prominence for his coverage of the Calgary Flames as a sportswriter for the Calgary Herald.
Dave Smart is a Canadian college basketball coach who is the head coach of the Pacific Tigers men's basketball team. Regarded as the most successful Canadian university coach of all time, Smart was the head coach of the Carleton Ravens from 1999 to 2019, leading them to 13 of the team's 17 overall U Sports national championships. During his 18 seasons at Carleton, he also led the Ravens to 11 OUA championships — the most by any coach in conference history. Smart has also served as an assistant coach with the Canadian men's national team on multiple occasions, working with former NBA player Leo Rautins, and Jay Triano.
The Preston Rivulettes were a Canadian women's ice hockey team. They won four Dominion Championships and ten Ontario titles between 1931 and 1940. The team had a winning percentage of over 95%, a record unmatched in the history of women's hockey. They were inducted into the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame on May 2, 1998, as members of the inaugural class of 1997. They were awarded the Order of Sport in 2022, marking their induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum was eventually taken over by Sport Alberta in 1973 when the AAAU ceased operations. It has been maintained by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Society since 1997. The first permanent display for the Hall of Fame was established in Edmonton in 1962. The museum relocated between Edmonton and Calgary on numerous occasions until settling in Red Deer in 1999.
Douglas Harding Mitchell, was a Canadian Football player, executive, and commissioner.
The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure as founder and president of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (CBHF). The inaugural class of honoured members was inducted in 1994.
James Alexander Coleman was a Canadian sports journalist, writer and press secretary. His journalism career began with The Winnipeg Tribune in 1931, and included tenures with The Province and The Globe and Mail. He became Canada's first national print syndication sports columnist in 1950, writing for The Canadian Press and Southam Newspapers. He also appeared as a radio sports commentator and hosted The Jim Coleman Show on CBC Television, and served as press secretary for the Ontario Jockey Club and Stampede Park in Calgary. His father was D'Alton Corry Coleman, a former journalist and later president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. While travelling about North America to sporting events as a youth with his father, Coleman developed a lifelong love of horse racing, Canadian football and ice hockey.
Carla Dawn Qualtrough is a Canadian politician and former Paralympic swimmer who has served as the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity since July 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, Qualtrough has represented the riding of Delta in the House of Commons since 2015.
Frank Lorne McKinnon, CM was a Canadian sports administrator. He was a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation Congress, chairman of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), and vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Association for one term. McKinnon was named a Member of the Order of Canada in June 2014 in recognition of his extensive volunteer work and contributions to amateur sport in Canada.
Kathy Shields is a Canadian basketball coach. She coached the University of Victoria women’s basketball team and the 1984 Summer Olympics as an assistant coach. She is married to Ken Shields.
Robert George Hindmarch was a Canadian educator, sports administrator and ice hockey coach. He was a multi-sport athlete at the University of British Columbia (UBC) as a student, and returned as a professor and its director of physical education. He and Father David Bauer established a permanent Canada men's national ice hockey team based at UBC in preparation for ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics. Hindmarch later coached the UBC Thunderbirds men's ice hockey team for 214 wins in 12 seasons; they became one of the first Western Bloc sports teams to play a tour of games in China. He developed additional international sporting relationships for the Thunderbirds in South Korea and Japan, and served as vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Association for 16 years. Hindmarch was made a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia; and is inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Gordon Craig is a Canadian sport and television executive. He is the founder of The Sports Network and Réseau des sports and inducted member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Canadian Curling Hall of Fame. In 2020, Craig was named one of the 50 most influential Toronto sporting figures of the past 50 years by Steve Simmons and received the Brian Williams Media Award from the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
Ringette Canada is the national governing body for the sport of ringette in Canada. It was established in 1974 with June Tiessen as its first President and has its current headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario. It is responsible for the organization and promotion of ringette on a nationwide basis and organizes Canada's semi-professional ringette league, the National Ringette League (NRL) which was established in 2004, with the league functioning as a committee under Ringette Canada.