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.
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).
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.
Roger Charles Jackson, is a Canadian academic and Olympic gold medallist rower. He won the only gold medal for Canada at the 1964 Summer Olympics, in the coxless pair with George Hungerford. The same year they were awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy. Jackson also competed at the 1968 Olympics and finished eleventh in the single sculls event. At the 1972 Olympics he was a crew member of the Canadian boat which finished twelfth in the coxed fours competition.
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.
W. David King is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach. He coached professional teams in the National Hockey League (NHL), the Russian Super League, the Kontinental Hockey League, and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, as well as junior and amateur teams in the Western Hockey League and in U Sports. Internationally, he coached the Canadian national team at the IIHF World Junior Championships and several Winter Olympics. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada (CM) in 1992, was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1997, and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2001. In recognition of his contributions to the game with its national teams, Hockey Canada named him to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2013.
Dave Smart is a Canadian basketball coach currently working as an assistant coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario from 1999 to 2019, where he led the Ravens to thirteen of the team's fifteen overall U Sports national championships in men's basketball. Smart was the Director of Basketball Operations at Carleton, and has served as a consultant to the coaching staff at the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. 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 first instances of organized women's ice hockey in Canada date back to the 1890s when it was played at the university level. The Women's Hockey Association claims that the city of Ottawa, Ontario hosted the first game in 1891. In 1920, Lady Meredith, an avid sportswoman and wife of Sir Vincent Meredith of Montreal donated the Lady Meredith Cup to the Quebec Ladies' Hockey Association, said to be the first women's ice hockey trophy created for a competition in Canada. At the time women competed in ankle-length skirts.
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.
David Hart is a 4-time Olympian in the sport of water polo who is still active as a mentor and coach. He competed as an athlete for the Canadian men's national water polo team at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1976 Summer Olympics, and as an assistant coach at the 1984 Summer Olympics, placing 16th, 9th, and 10th, respectively. He also served as assistant coach for the Canadian women's national water polo team placing 5th at the 2000 Summer Olympics. An inductee in the McMaster University Hall of Fame, Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame, Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame, he has also received life-time achievement recognition from the Coaching Association of Canada, Ottawa Sports Awards, Hamilton Sport Banner Series, Hamilton People of Significance Award and Aquatics Canada. David was the first ever Canadian water polo personality to coach a foreign team as head coach of the Brazilian Women's Team 2002-2003. He won 8 international medals as a coach, competing in 5 World Championships and 6 Pan American Games. Numerous innovative programs were created by David during a career spanning 1965 to 2022 including: Canadian Water Polo League/Canadian Water Polo Dream Team/I Love Water Polo program. He launched his own David Hart Performance Water Polo business in June 2018. He currently lives in Griffith, Ontario, Canada.
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.