2010/11/12 Inductees

2010 Inductees

Harold Townsley
Builder - Baseball/Hockey
After a successful playing career on the ice and ball diamond, Harold Townsley spent the next five decades imparting his knowledge and skills to the youth of Acton. Having turned 80 in February, Townsley qualifies for the Sports Hall of Fame as a builder. 

The  Stratford Ontario native shone as a left-winger on the Acton Jr. D teams of the late 1940s and played professionally for the Washington Lions of the Eastern Hockey League before the team folded in 1952. Townsley starred and was captain for Acton Intermediate Tanners’ hockey teams as well as being a baseball catcher for the Acton Merchants in the Halton County loop.

A firefighter and later  the Acton Arena manager was a coach and manager on youth teams in almost every age group in Acton and Erin until 2005, also serving as a referee and executive member, earning Acton’s Citizen of the Year Award in 2000.

Haddy Smedema
Builder - Soccer
From the time he arrived in Georgetown from the Netherlands in 1951, Haddy Smedema has been known as the “silent worker” behind the scenes in many soccer circles. He was the founder, coach and player for the Georgetown Eagles’ senior men’s side that played at the Fairgrounds in the Central Ontario League.

The 76-year-old was president of the Georgetown Minor Soccer Association for four years during the 1970s when registration totaled over 1,000 boys and girls.
Smedema’s organizational and administrative skills were also called upon by the prestigious North American Cup and Ontario Cup tournaments. He served as director of the North American event from 1976-80 and the provincial competition at the same time, receiving the Ontario Soccer Association’s Man of the Year Award in 1982. Smedema remains active as a coach in the Georgetown Women’s league.

Paul Robinson
Athlete - Hockey
A stocky left-winger who once scored 100 goals in a single Jr. C season, Paul Robinson also owns some impressive team-related stats. 

The 61-year-old was a member of nine all- Ontario championship teams as a player and two more as a coach, winning the OHA Jr.C scoring title and MVP honours in 1967-68 by hitting the century mark in goals during regular season and playoffs.

Growing up in Georgetown, Robinson idolized Intermediate “A” Raider brothers Blake and Gerry Inglis and played for Gerry on back-to-back Ontario midget championship squads in 1964-65. The 5-foot-7 sniper was invited to the training camp of the Jr. A Peterborough Petes twice and enjoyed a few successful seasons with his hometown Intermediate A Raiders before moving to Bowmanville in 1978, where he went on to be inducted into the Clarington Sports Hall of Fame as a coach


Walt Dixon/Dave Armstrong/
Frank Van de Valk
Team - Car Racing

Interest in auto racing was at its prime during the late 1960s in Halton Hills and a three man local team made its mark on drag strips across North America.
Consisting of driver Walt Dixon, owner Frank Van de Valk and the late master mechanic Dave Armstrong, Valk/Dixon/Armstrong Racing terrorized the track with their orange 1969 Cougar Eliminator, winning major races in Indianapolis and New York while also setting a National Hot Rod Association class record time.  With a 428 horsepower Cobra engine meticulously tuned by Armstrong, the Cougar roared to about a dozen wins on the 1969 Ontario Stock Eliminator circuit, was fastest in class at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, took the overall championship at the New York Spring Nationals and established an NHRA class record clocking at the Can-Am Nationals in Winnipeg.
In 1965, Dixon owned and drove a '65 Chevelle named "White Knight" that won 24 out of 26 class championships through the year and raced to an A stock Canadian title.  Armstrong maintained and tuned 20 cars across the country for the Ford Canadian Racing Team, as well as a rail dragster.


2011 Inductees

Bert Zonneveld
Builder - Soccer

Involved in almost every aspect of the game both on and off the pitch for the past half-century, Bert Zonneveld has helped develop youth soccer in Georgetown and many other Ontario communities. Despite not having children or grandchildren in the Georgetown Soccer Club, the 72-year-old has been active both as Coach and Executive member with the local organization for 20 years, fielding successful teams while performing administrative duties such as drafting the GSC’s constitution.
Zonneveld’s passion for soccer began as a youngster in his native Holland and upon arriving in Canada his interests turned to passing on his enthusiasm “to the kids,” co-founding the Dixie Soccer Club in 1970. As well as writing articles for a Dutch-Canadian weekly in the 1960s, Zonneveld started up the first youth rep league in Mississauga, which was a forerunner for the Peel-Halton loop, and coached a couple of National Soccer League teams in Toronto in the early 1980s.
He was also instrumental in working with the Town to bring the Trafalgar Sports Park to fruition for the GSC.

Bob Hooper
Builder - Hockey

One of the architects behind the Georgetown Raiders’ run to a Hardy Cup Intermediate "A" Canadian Hockey Championship in 1982, Hooper later became the Commissioner for the world’s largest Jr. A hockey league (OPJHL).
The 71-year-old from Glen Williams served as President of the Intermediate Raiders during their glory years, heading up a community-run organization that employed dozens of volunteers at its peak of popularity.
 Hooper also oversaw the operations of Senior and Junior teams in Georgetown after serving as a coach and general manager for many successful minor hockey teams. He was founding Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Jr. A Hockey League, which he ran until 2008, and helped bring the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Championship Tournament to Georgetown in 2005.
 Hooper’s work as a builder spans over five decades and he was one of the founders of the Georgetown Hockey Heritage Committee as well as the original Jr. "B" Gemini, now the Jr. "A" Raiders.

Bob Goldham
Athlete - Hockey

Bob Goldham was an All-Star defenceman in the National Hockey League for many seasons, although his teammates referred to him as “the second goalie” because of the local native’s fearless shot-blocking. Goldham was the first graduate of Gordon Alcott’s Little NHL from the 1930s and went on to earn two Stanley Cup victories with the Toronto Maple Leafs and three more with the Detroit Red Wings, playing in 650 games over 12 seasons. He played alongside NHL legends such as Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay and against the likes of; ‘Rocket’ Richard and Jean Beliveau, earning a spot amongst the 23 greatest players in Red Wings’ history. He later became a television analyst on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and midweek Maple Leafs’ games for several years.
Goldham, who died in 1991 at the age of 69, left the Leafs after his first season in 1942 to serve in the Canadian Navy, resuming his NHL career with Toronto at the end of the Second World War.


Clive Llewellyn
Athlete - Wrestling

A Provincial Champion in wrestling in 1971 for the 136-pound weight class as a member of the Georgetown District High School Rebels, Clive Llewellyn would go on to represent Canada at the Montreal Summer Olympic Games in 1976 and several world championships.
A native of Kenya who now runs a law practice in Calgary, Llewellyn was the Canadian University Wrestling Champion on four occasions from 1973-77 and earned a silver medal at the Pan Am Games in Mexico City in 1975.
He was a member of Canada’s national team from 1974-80 and was a medalist at national championship tournaments eight times.
After his competitive career concluded, Llewellyn has coached for several years in the Calgary area, where he founded the Rebels’ Amateur Wrestling Club.
Llewellyn has also been extensively involved on the administrative side with the Canadian and Alberta Amateur Wrestling Associations, currently serving as president of the CAWA since 2007



Gerry Inglis
Athlete/Builder - Hockey

It probably isn’t a coincidence that many of the players whom Gerry Inglis coached on several provincial-champion Georgetown hockey teams went on to be successful bench bosses themselves.
Inglis, 79, imparted the determination to win and the desire required by his charges that resulted in several OHA titles at the midget, Jr. C and Intermediate A levels.
He was named the 1982 Georgetown Hockey Heritage Award recipient, just a couple of months before he served as head coach for the Town’s most famous on-ice triumph, the Intermediate Raiders’ Hardy Cup Canadian championship.
A successful stone mason who grew up in Glen Williams, Inglis’s knack for winning began as a heady blueliner for two Georgetown Intermediate A clubs in the 1950s that won two J. Ross Robertson Cups and he suited up with Bradford for another in 1964.


Gordon Alcott
Builder - Hockey

It is fitting that in the same year in which the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association celebrates its 75th season, the founder of the trend-setting Little NHL is inducted into the Halton Hills Sports Museum’s Hall of Fame.
Gordon Alcott was the catalyst behind the Little NHL— “a hockey organization that has pledged itself to give organized hockey to every boy in his community within the age group of 8 to 13 years" - and the concept soon spread nation-wide, introducing thousands of youngsters to the sport.
Midget-age players wore replica jerseys of Original Six teams adorned with the names and numbers of the actual NHL players of the time, laying the foundation for the minor hockey associations of today.
The Georgetown twin rink is named in his honour, but Alcott’s reputation as a builder of youth sport in Georgetown also carried over to football, rugby, tennis and baseball.
His titles included: “The Piscean, the factory worker, the mining employee, the hockey organizer and referee, the baseball umpire, the recreation director, the salesman and insurance executive, the lay preacher,


John Dallison
Builder - Tennis

In 1975, the Town of Halton Hills asked local resident John Dallison to sit on its Recreation Advisory Committee and study the operations of existing tennis clubs in the area.
From that study, the Halton Hills Tennis Association was formed, four new courts were built beside the Alcott Arena in 1979 and Dallison remains active as a volunteer with the organization over 35 years later.
He also raised funds to build at clubhouse for the Gordon Alcott Tennis Club in 1980 and several new programs for youths and adults sprouted under his direction, including regional tournaments, house leagues, competitive leagues, teaching clinics and his favourite focus, youth development.
The GATC worked closely with local schools and the Town’s Recreation & Parks department, resulting in registration growth rates in the 10-12 per cent range through the 2000s. Dallison was also heavily involved in the project to build a new six-court facility at the Gellert Recreation Centre, set to open next year, to replace the outgoing GATC courts.


2012 Inductees

Glenda Nixdorf
Builder - Figure Skating

By the time her quarter-century of volunteering with the Georgetown Skating Club was complete, there likely wasn’t a function within the organization that Glenda Nixdorf hadn’t been keenly involved.
President, music co-ordinator, newsletter writer, fundraiser, membership chair, costume designer and an Ice Show organizer involving some 500 skaters were just some of the roles the 68-year-old Nixdorf performed for the GSC until retiring in 2007.
She received the club’s Honourary Member award in 2008 and on four occasions was named the GSC Volunteer of the Year award.
Fellow skating club volunteers say that Nixdorf’s team building, event planning, leadership and diligent financial management skills were the “glue” that held the GSC together well after her two children had moved on from the program.
Although no longer active with the GSC, Nixdorf devotes countless hours to the upkeep of the Halton Hills Sports Museum & Resource Centre as secretary and assistant curator, along with a number of other community groups.
She has also been a member of the Girl Guides of Canada for over 60 years, providing leadership skills to hundreds of youths.

Richard Van Der Wal
Builder - Soccer

For nearly 40 years, Richard Van der Wal has been a constant fixture on the field, boardroom and bingo hall for the Acton Soccer Club and enters the Halton Hills Sports Hall of Fame as a builder.
The 70-year-old native of the Netherlands began as a coach with the club in the mid-1970s until 1985, also serving as a team manager.
Taking a seat on the executive as vice president in 1979, he became president from 1979-81 as the club changed its charter and Van der Wal  helped draft the new constitution in 1980.
Along with serving as a referee since 1981, which he continues to do for the club today, Van der Wal stepped up to raise funds by volunteering his time to organize bingo sessions for several years.
His efforts with the Acton club earned him the Ontario Volunteer Service Award in 2001 for his continuous committment to the local organization.
Van der Wal gradated from Nebraska State University in 1964 on a track & field scholarship and went on to a 44-year teaching career at E.C. Drury Secondary School in Milton and the School for the Deaf, coaching several other sports during that time.
An avid runner and cyclist, Van der Wal takes great pride in sharing his wealth of athletic experiences with the youths of Acton.

Kerwin McPhail
Builder - Hockey

The driving force behind organized youth hockey in Acton for over two decades, Kerwin McPhail preferred a behind-the-scenes approach to his volunteer work.
An electrician, farmer and father of three children, McPhail was a decent intermediate hockey player for the Acton Tanners during the early 1950s before sitting on the executive of the Acton Legion minor hockey program.
Nicknamed “Geordie,” McPhail held several posts with the Acton Legion Minor Hockey Association, ranging from coach to chairman, serving as Acton’s rep when the Four Town Hockey Tournament (along with Milton, Georgetown and Streetsville) was formed in the 1960s.
As equipment manager, McPhail made certain that no youngster would be denied an opportunity to play if they couldn’t afford the registration fee or to be properly equipped.
In 1970, he founded the Acton Peewee Hockey Tournament, which continues to be held each year, and earned Life Member status with the Acton Legion Minor Hockey Association for his 20-plus years of dedication. He also started up the Acton Sabres’ junior team in 1972, holding the reins of president for several years.
The 84-year-old remains as an active Legion member and has volunteered with many other community groups away from the rink.

Bryan Lewis
Athlete/Builder - Hockey

Former National Hockey League referee and director of officiating Bryan Lewis is the lone 2012 inductee entering the Halton Hills Sports Hall of Fame as both an athlete and a builder.
Lewis, who will turn 70 in September, began officiating at Georgetown’s Memorial Arena as a youngster and went on to call 1,023 NHL games, including nine Stanley Cup finals and the 1981 All-Star Game.
Personal highlights include being honoured in the Montreal Forum prior to his 1,000th NHL game— the only time his mother Peg watched him in action live— and sitting on the officiating committee for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan.
Starting out as a linesman working Ontario Hockey Association senior and intermediate games, Lewis’s pro career began in the Central and Western Hockey Leagues and he joined the NHL as a referee in 1966.
Following the sudden death of close friend and local resident John McCauley in 1989, Lewis assumed the role as the NHL’s director of officiating until retiring in 2000, although he is still referee-in-chief for the Central Hockey League and the Ontario University Athletics loop, along with a supervisory position with the OHA.
The longtime Town of Halton Hills Councillor received the OHA’s Gold Stick Award in 2009 and was the 2000 Georgetown Hockey Heritage Award recipient.

John Grace
Athlete - Triathlon

A self-confessed “adrenaline junkie,” John Grace has literally turned his involvement in triathlons into a lifestyle rather than just a recreational activity.
Having turned 60 in the fall, the Halton Region mechanic still takes his bicycle to work most mornings, making the 17-km trek to the depot on Steeles Ave.
Grace has ridden his bike to places all over the planet, representing Canada at 12 World Triathlon Championships (swim, bike, run) and seven World Duathlon Championships (bike, run).
Not only dominating his own age group by winning every event he entered in 2011, earning the Triathlon Ontario Masters (40+) Athlete of the Year Award, it’s a regular occurence to see Grace overtake competitors half his age or more during the late stages of a race.
He has won numerous provincial age group titles and was Canadian Masters Duathlon champion in 1999 and nationals age group (55-59) winner in 2006.
As well, Grace received the Triathlon Ontario’s Official of the Year honour for 2011, as he serves as a head referee on the weekends he doesn’t compete. He is also director of TO’s technical committee.
A member of the Georgetown Runners since 1984, Grace has twice been named captain of the Canadian contingent at world championships and will compete in this year’s triathlon worlds in Auckland, New Zealand.

Don Cousens
Builder - Football

His zebra-striped jersey bears the number 35 on its back, but Don Cousens figures he’s probably done a good job when nobody notices he was even out on the field.
Selected to work six Grey Cup championship games as a head linesman since 2002, the 54-year-old has become one of the Canadian Football League’s top officials and a mentor for newer ones overseeing the line of scrimmage.
Soon after his playing career ended with the Georgetown District High School Rebels and he was hired as a Halton Regional Police officer, Cousens joined the Lakeshore Football Officials’ Association in 1980 in order to maintain involvement with the sport he loves.
Beginning with minor club and high school football as a line judge, Cousens progressed through the Ontario and Canadian junior ranks to the Canadian university level, working the Yates Cup OUA championship match before getting invited to the CFL Officials’ Camp in 1998.
Over 15 seasons in the CFL, Cousens has officiated 243 games, with his professional debut coming at Hamilton’s Ivor Wynne Stadium between the hometown Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts.
Cousens, now a staff sergeant with the HRPS, still manages to fit local-area high school and youth contests into his schedule and estimates he’s worked more than 1,200 amateur games over the past 32 years.