Record-Breaking Attendance at BC Sports Hall of Fame 2024 Annual Summit

KAMLOOPS 2024: ANNUAL SUMMIT SETS SEVERAL ATTENDANCE RECORDS… biggest BC Sports Hall of Fame event ever held outside of Vancouver.

After a strong pilot in New Westminster in 2019 and a successful hybrid in Surrey in 2021, the Annual Summit of the BC Sports Hall of Fame has grown each of the past three years in moving around the province, from Kelowna 2022 and Greater Victoria 2023 to Kamloops 2024.

The Abbotsford 2025 Annual Summit will be next in line, scheduled for September 18-20 and organized under the leadership of Summit Co-Chairs Barry Dudzik and Stan Petersen and Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame Chair Doug Primrose.

Kamloops 2024 was a record-setter on several fronts, thanks to the leadership of Co-Chairs Carolynn Boomer and Duncan Olthuis and the support of PacificSport Interior, Kamloops Sports Council, Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame and the additional community pillars of the City of Kamloops, Tourism Kamloops and the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce.

Working in tandem with our management team led by CEO Michelle Kitchen and Curator Jason Beck, Carolynn and Duncan set a new bar for what can be accomplished when the BC Sports Hall of Fame partners with sports halls from throughout the province to expand the dynamic footprint that is growing for sport history, heritage and culture in British Columbia.

With 173 tickets claimed for the DEFINING MOMENTS LUNCHEON powered by Canadian Sport Institute Pacific and another 161 for the REUNION AT THE SUMMIT: The Council of Chairs Dinner featuring the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards, the two signature events of Kamloops 2024 are the two largest BC Sports Hall events ever held outside of Vancouver in the 58-year history of the Society.

The events celebrated the designation of Kamloops as a Sport Heritage Community, the first of its kind in British Columbia. Kamloops is now not only Canada’s Tournament Capital, it is the first of what will be a series of Sport Heritage Communities that put sport first and back it up in all facets of sport and active living, from sport facilities and sport hosting to sport tourism, sport excellence, sport science, sport participation and more.

Among the other highlights:

• The Kamloops 2024 Annual Summit was kicked off by the Sport BC Community Sports Hero Awards on Thursday evening, Sept. 19^th. Held at the Tournament Capital Centre, the Sports Hero Awards engaged 80 Thanks and congrats to Allison Mailer and the team at Sport BC for this excellent tip-off to the weekend.

• The Defining Moments Luncheon powered by Canadian Sport Institute drew 173 and featured the designation of Kamloops as a Sport Heritage Community and the celebration of five defining moments in BC sport history: Team captain Kelly Olynyk and Team Canada winning bronze at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup in 2023 at Manilla – marking the first-ever FIBA medal win for Canada, World Cup mountain biker Catharine Pendrell winning bronze in cross-country mountain biking at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the trailblazing and cinema accomplishments of the Rocky Mountain FroRiders (Richie Schley, Wade Simmons and Brett Tippie), shot put star Dylan Armstrong winning silver at the World Championships in 2011 and ultimately cementing a legacy as both athlete and coach and the 1994-’95 Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers, one of the best major junior hockey clubs in CHL history.

• The Reunion at The Summit: Council of Chairs Dinner featuring the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards and presented by the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, with 161 in attendance to celebrate Ron Jones of Maple Ridge and Nancy Greene Raine and Al Raine as Lifetime Leadership & Service Award Winners. Jones and Greene Raine are also Honoured Members of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.  The Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards went to Henry Pejril, the long-standing President of the Kamloops Sports Council, Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame founder Frank D’Amore, PacificSport Interior BC chair Ron McColl, Kamloops International Baseball Tournament organizers Jan and Wayne Harper, Kamloops Track & Field Club President Judy Armstrong and prominent media personality and sports advocate Earl Seitz, also a member of the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame.

• The BC Sports Hall Network General Meeting and workshop meetings during the day on Friday, with more than 22 people participating in person and online.

• Honoured Member (Golf, Class of 2024) Dick Zokol visiting Kamloops schools with the message of inspiration that is at the heart of the Hero in You program of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

• A dozen (12) visiting the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame open house at the Tournament Capital Centre, with the Annual General Meeting capping things off at the same

• Honoured Members Barry Soper and Louise Soper of skating attending their second consecutive Annual Summit. Also big shoutout to former Chairs Dann Konkin, Bill Maclagan and Gareth Rees – also current Trustee and now second Vice-Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame — for being among those celebrating Kamloops 2024.