Inspiring the Future: It’s a Family Affair
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
October 1st, 2020
As our new Board of Trustees begins the 2020-’21 term, we’re committed to continuing to elevate our best efforts around inspiring the future; the mantra that beats in the very heart of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
We’re currently doing so under extraordinarily difficult circumstances – a global pandemic that has compromised not only our regular operations, but one that has placed restrictions on the very notion of public gatherings – but the principles remain very much the same.
Our modus operandi is telling the stories of the most compelling athletes, coaches, builders, pioneers, teams and media; the sports personalities that have shaped and textured the rich history, heritage and culture of sport in British Columbia. In order to do that to the best of our ability, that means a continued push around building out the infrastructure of the BC Sports Hall of Fame for the coming year, the mid-term, and, ultimately, the long-term.
To us, that infrastructure is people power. It’s the networks and partnerships that create the growing coalition of support that’s required for us to think bigger, do better and realize more in terms of honouring our Hall of Famers and telling their stories in ways that are meaningful for the next generation of British Columbians.
There’s no rocket science behind our approach as a Board of Trustees, as a management team or as a society entrusted with curating sport history in B.C. It’s all about extending our family of supporters and creating the kinds of partnerships – government, community, philanthropic, corporate, media, broadcast and more – that have the potential to fuel our growth and help us Inspire the Future in everything we do.
That family begins with our Hall of Famers, of course; the more than 400 individuals and 64 teams inducted as Honoured Members into the BC Sports Hall of Fame. Celebrating our Honoured Members is the first pillar of our strategic vision and, as such, they are our most important natural resources.
The family includes our Board of Trustees, those responsible for the strategic direction and governance of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Our family also builds on the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, custodians of a legacy fund that is at $2.6 million and growing; designed to not only safeguard the future of the Sports Hall, but to literally serve as a foundation for our wildest ambitions in the years to come.
The BC Sports Hall of Fame family includes our Council of Chairs, the group of former chairs who are available to us to add the weight of their years of community and business leadership to our efforts and who provide valuable counsel on the strength of their decades of experience and background in the growth and development of the Sports Hall.
Similarly, our family is being expanded in the next year to include the Council of Trustees, which represent our efforts in repatriating and reconnecting with all of those who have served the BC Sports Hall of Fame as Trustees over the past 54 years. We are also contemplating a Council of Professionals, an opportunity for us to welcome back those dedicated professionals who have served the Sports Hall as management and staff over the years.
One of the most important parts of our growing family are the historians, advocates, staff and volunteers associated with the more than 40 local, regional and sport-specific Halls of Fame throughout the province. They are coming together as the BC Council of Sports Halls, a new network designed to increase opportunities for collaboration and information-sharing for all those communities that care about and believe in the power of sport – and sport history.
On yet another front of community building and networking, we will roll out our Club 1966 membership initiative to invite more like-minded individuals and organizations into our family beginning in 2021.
Add in our community partners and supporters in government – at all three levels – and those in the corporate, philanthropic, media and broadcast worlds and we consider ourselves fortunate to be entrusted with doing what we’re doing – telling these amazing and inspiring stories of excellence and triumph in the face of adversity – and to have the chance to do so with a growing family of support behind us.
We will never take for granted those of you who step up to be part of our essential infrastructure; the people power that will help us build on our first 54 years and usher in the best that is yet to come in the future. You give architecture to our networks. You define our family; the family behind the BC Sports Hall of Fame and all of our Hall of Famers!
Tom Mayenknecht, Chair
BC Sports Hall of Fame
Tom Mayenknecht is the Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame. A principal at Emblematica Brand Builders in Vancouver and a nationally-recognized sport business commentator and host of The Sport Market on TSN Radio, he is a strong advocate for the KidSport, Right To Play and other children’s charities. He is also a member of the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame as a builder and Chair of the Paul Carson Broadcast & Media Awards.