NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA SPORTS HALL OF FAME
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Mark Shivers, a former Orillia Athlete of the Year, and a trio of legendary local builders who helped grow three different sports in Orillia and beyond, will be inducted into the Orillia Sports Hall of Fame in May.
Shivers will be joined by Nelson Dunlop, Joanne Stanga and Bill Smith, who were instrumental in the growth of baseball, women’s lacrosse and hockey, respectively.
Shivers was an elite swimmer who began swimming with the Orillia Channel Cats in 1989 and was among the province’s top swimmers throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
“Throughout his swimming career, he was an athlete possessing great athletic prowess and speed,” said Dean Boles, CEO of Swim Ontario, who supported the nomination of the local athlete.
“(Shivers) was consistently at the top of his game provincially, taking several championship titles from 1998-2001 to being a finalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials and then hitting the pinnacle of his career (by) becoming a Canadian National champion in the 50 butterfly at the 2002 National Trials in Victoria.”
Boles said Shivers was “an ambassador for his sport” and “an inspiration” to younger swimmers.
Nelson Dunlop dedicated his life to the minor baseball program in Orillia. He served as a coach, manager and umpire from the late 1950s through to about 2005.
His son, Mick Dunlop, said his late dad’s crowning achievement was coaching Orillia’s bantam team to an Ontario A championship in 1966. That star-studded team, that won every tournament it entered, boasted two future pro hockey players: Rick Ley and John French.
Joanne Stanga was a pioneer in women’s lacrosse. As a youth, she played box lacrosse with her brothers but dreamed of a league for women. She poured her heart and soul into organizing and developing the sport for girls - first in Orillia and then further afield in Ontario before cementing her spot in the sport’s history at the national and global levels.
As a coach, she led her teams to provincial, national and international titles while also serving as an administrator in various leagues and bodies at all levels.
She is a Lifetime Member of Orillia Minor Lacrosse, was elected to the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, won the Canadian Lacrosse Association’s Lester B. Pearson award and earned the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award, among many other awards.
Bill Smith bought the Orillia Travelways in 1979, elevated the team to Tier 2 junior hockey and turned the squad into a model franchise that ruled the rinks in Ontario for several years and won Orillia’s last national hockey title: the Centennial Cup in 1985.
During his tenure as owner, he recruited world-class talent to the team, hired former NHLer Gary Marsh as coach and ensured the team was a perennial powerhouse.
While he reduced his role in the early 1990s, he continues to support junior hockey in Orillia to this day.
“Over the years, Bill Smith contributed millions of dollars in owning, sponsoring and supporting the growth of hockey in Orillia,” said Scott McLean, who captained the Travelways in 1983 and nominated Smith for the prestigious honour.
Smith was also a part of the ownership group of the Toronto Rock that won four NLL championships from 1999 to 2005.
This impressive quartet will be inducted into Orillia’s Sports Hall of Fame alongside the three nominees from 2020 - Dave Town, Wayne Dowswell and Bill Watters - who will also be officially inducted that night as last year’s ceremony was cancelled due to COVID.
This will be the seventh class of inductees since a grassroots volunteer group - the Orillia Sports Council - started the Hall of Fame in 2015.
The new honourees will be officially inducted at the 2022 Orillia Sports Hall of Fame Gala, which will be held May 28 at Hawk Ridge Golf and Country Club. Tickets are $100.
“It’s important to recognize and honour our top athletes and those who have worked so hard to develop and support those athletes,” said Roy Micks, chair of Sport Orillia. “The Hall of Fame induction is a great opportunity for people to come out and support the men and women who helped put Orillia on the map.”
For more information, visit sportorillia.ca. For information about tickets, email: [email protected]
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