ATHLETE - VOLLEYBALL
Joanne Berentson (Bingham) was in Grade 8 and already stood five-foot-10 when her dad introduced her to Grant Clatworthy, his fellow teacher and coach at Georgetown District High School (GDHS). Berentson played pretty much every sport imaginable, but Clatworthy’s saw a lot of potential in his area of expertise. “He said he was going to make a volleyball player out of me,” Berentson recalls. He would deliver on that promise.
Berentson would go on to lead Clatworthy’s GDHS team to a provincial high school title before accepting a scholarship at Western Michigan University, where she would set several records that still stand today. She followed that up with playing with the Canadian national team at the world championships, and later having a pro career in Europe.
“I thought maybe I could play in college, and you always knew Team Canada was out there,” Berentson said. “It opened up so much for me. I didn’t even know pro volleyball existed when I was in high school.”
Berentson, who now lives in Arizona, also wasn’t aware there was a Halton Hills Sports Museum Hall of Fame until she found out she had been nominated.
After leading Georgetown to the OFSAA championship in 1986, Berentson accepted a scholarship to Western Michigan University at a time when athletic scholarships to U.S. colleges for Canadians were not common outside of hockey.
Berentson led the Broncos to Mid-American Conference championships in three of her four seasons at the school, earning championship MVP honours in her senior season. She was a two-time conference first-team all-star and 30 years after graduating, she still holds five school records, including her 611 kills in one season. “Some of them have disappeared, which is fine,” she said. “I’m surprised I’m even still on the board.” And while some of her marks have been surpassed, she still ranks among the top 10 career kills, service aces and points per set.
Following her college career, which earned her induction into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 2007, she played for Canada at the 1990 world championships in Beijing, China. She also signed on to play professionally in Europe, first in Switzerland and then France. Berentson still considers those years a career highlight. “It was exciting getting to experience a different culture,” she said. “I got to meet people from all over the world and play against some of the people I had played against in the U.S.”
Shoulder and hip injuries eventually forced her to retire, but Berentson never lost her love for the sport. “I just loved playing volleyball,” Berentson said. “It was always the most comfortable place for me.”
SUNNY ACRE FARMS (BIANCHI FAMILY) - BUILDER - HOCKEY
In 2019, Chapman was named to the Toronto Rock Hall of Fame.
*******************
CHRIS SARGENT
Having coached minor lacrosse since the mid-1970s, Chris Sargent decided kids shouldn’t be the only ones to enjoy the sport. When lacrosse registration rolled around, the former Acton junior player started asking the fathers if they wanted to play too. Other towns followed his lead, and Sargent is the commissioner of a masters lacrosse league that has grown to 20 teams, and has won a provincial championship.
Sargent also coached football at Georgetown District High School for 23 years, often quietly paying the fees for players who couldn’t afford to play and helping numerous players advance to university football.
He has also been a dedicated fundraiser for local charities, including Canadian Tire Jump Start, the Canadian Cancer Society, the MS Society and Abuse Awareness.
Founded in 1974, Georgetown won its first of 30 Halton championships in 1979. Since 1999, no other team has claimed the overall title, a streak of 21 consecutive victories.
*******************
GDHS’s swim team has also excelled at the provincial level, having won 12 Ontario championships and finishing among the top 10 teams in the province 38 times. Georgetown swimmers have combined to win 260 individual and relay medals at the Ontario high school championships since 1980.
In the past 20 years alone, Georgetown has won 14 boys and 12 girls titles at provincials.
Many of the programs swimmers have moved on to compete at the Canadian university and NCAA levels.
******************
It is far too easy to reduce the impact of COVID to numbers — cases, hospitalizations, deaths.
But each death represents the loss of a family member, a friend, and in the case of Barb Montemurro, all of those and a dedicated volunteer and champion for para sports.
Jon Hurst worked with Montemurro on the Town of Halton Hills’ accessibility committee for more than a decade.
“Barb was the heart and soul of our committee. She was so funny,” Hurst said. “She loved being there. She felt she could make a difference.”
While Hurst said it was clear from the meetings that Montemurro was very knowledgeable and brought a wealth of experience, she never brought up her background. It wasn’t until her death in January 2021 that he fully realized “what a treasure we had.”
Montemurro, who was previously named to the Hall of Fame for the Ontario Wheelchair Sport Association (2008) and the Canadian Wheelchair Sport Association (2017), will now join the 2022 class for the Halton Hills Sports Hall of Fame.
2023 INDUCTEES
An all-Canadian defender and two-time Ontario all-star for the Western Mustangs, Miller was inducted into the university’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
JIM LINDSAY