On June 14th (2023), the Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame will welcome a new slate of inductees for the first time in four years.

With a total of 15 new inductees included in what amounts to the Class of 2020 and 2022, it seems safe to say that the new grouping will more than make up for the lost time, both in terms of quantity and quality.

Given the amount of time that has passed since the Class of 2020 was first announced, pre-COVID, it seemed prudent to spend a column reacquainting local sports folks with the impressive resumes that accompany each and other one of the individuals and collection of individuals who will be feted in a little over a month at the Caruso Club:

GARY TREVISIOL: A member of the Sudbury Cycling Club in the very infancy of the organization, Trevisiol would climb the Canadian cycling ranks quickly, claiming a national junior title within two years of picking up the sport. But after finishing 6th at Worlds in 1979 and qualifying for the Moscow Olympics that Canada would boycott, Trevisiol would return to the Games four years later in Los Angeles, part of a team that also included silver medal winner Steve Bauer.

BRENT HATTON: First introduced to course golf at Cedar Green as he kicked off his teenage years, Hatton would garner far more prominence as a long-time member of the Lively Golf Club, the setting that was home to so many of the 55 tournament titles he claimed over the years. Nearing his 60th birthday, Hatton continues to play well, a serious threat in recent years at the Ontario Seniors Championships.

TERRY CRISP: Although he played more than 530 games as a centreman in the NHL, helping the Philadelphia Flyers to a pair of Stanley Cup victories in the 1970’s, Crisp is at least as well known for his coaching career, a head coach for more than eight seasons with the Calgary Flames and Tampa Bay Lightning, winning another Cup with the former in 1988-1989.

CHRISTINE JAWORSKI: A very natural athlete from a highly athletic Sudbury family, Jaworski would garner the most attention for her prowess as an arm-wrestler, walking off a world champion on three separate instances, the kind of success that would land her a cameo on the Sylvester Stallone movie, “Over the Top” in 1987.

ROBERT ESMIE: A native of Jamaica who moved to Sudbury while still in elementary school, Esmie was a three time OFSAA gold medal winner as a sprinter at Lasalle Secondary School, continuing to develop to the point of claiming bronze at the Indoor Worlds in 1995 and holding the world record at one time in the 60m dash. But it was as the lead runner for the Canadian 4 X 100m relay team that won gold in Atlanta that the Air Blastoff coach is most well known.

JIM LOGAN: Born in Toronto, Logan would compete at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Italy as a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, he and his teammates earning bronze medals at the Games. Moving to Sudbury to accept an accounting position shortly thereafter and suiting up with the b>Sudbury Wolves' senior team coached by Peanuts O’Flaherty (also a St Michael’s alumnus), Logan has spent the rest of his life in these parts, devoting many years as a coach of Special Olympics curling teams.

GARY FOY: A very talented all-around skier who raced with the Nickel Teens Ski Club, Foy won gold at nationals in the downhill as a U20 competitor before moving on to influence the sport in these parts in countless different ways, as a coach, a member of the divisional ski executive and as the man most associated with bringing the Lively Ski Hill to life.

JOHN BEEDELL: Born in New Zealand but moving to Canada as a youngster, John Beedell would make his way to Sudbury during the glory years of the Sudbury Canoe Club (1950’s / 1960’s), representing Canada at the World Championships in Prague in 1958 and again at the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960, eventually settling in the Ottawa region to a career as a teacher.

TESSA BONHOMME: Having played all of her youth hockey in Sudbury, Bonhomme would accept an NCAA scholarship with the Ohio State Buckeyes, enjoying a storied career that would see her earn a nomination for the Patti Kazmaier Award as outstanding collegiate player of the year. No surprise that she would also catch the attention of the Canadian national team, winning at the World Championships on two occasions and claiming Olympic gold on home soil in 2010 at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

FIELDING BROTHERS (Clifford/Carman/Cecil): Members of a family that is far more well-known in these parts for their heavy involvement in the Sudbury business community, the “Fighting Fieldings” also remained extremely active in the boxing community, both as participants and supporters of the sport, with all three brothers earning induction into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame.

CAPREOL MAZZUCAS FASTBALL: Although fastball in Capreol can actually be dated back to not all that long after the turn of the 20th century, it was the era that began in the mid-fifties and continued through to the seventies that would see the Mazzuca-sponsored teams earn one provincial title after the next, establishing a standard of excellence in the sport that now sees them earning the first nod in the newly created “Norm Mayer Dynasty Award” category.

KAREN DUGUAY BUNTING: Inducted into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame in 2020, (then) Duguay – (now) Bunting twice donned the maple leaf at the World Championships for Canada (1998 & 2000) in addition to participating in more than 15 sets of national championship tournaments, playing the sport well into adulthood and now moving on to the coaching ranks.

JEFFREY BUTTLE: Buttle moved to Sudbury quite young, quickly forming a partnership with coach Wendy Philion and the Sudbury Skating Club. A member of the Canadian Olympic team that took part in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, Buttle would add a gold medal performance at the 2008 World Championships in Gothenburg to his silver medal that he claimed in 2005 in Moscow.

GILLES LAFRANCE: Initially cracking the Canadian Cerebral Palsy team in 1981, Lafrance participated at the World Championships a year later in Denmark before moving on to enjoy two sets of Paralympic Games (New York City – 1984; Barcelona – 1992). Lafrance also held a pair of world records at one time in 1986, the fastest in the world in his category at the 200m and 400m distances.

FABIO BELLI (posthumous): Belli would leverage his love of soccer in a variety of fashions, as volunteer and team manager and a businessman, opening Just Soccer and serving as chairman of the highly successful Panhellenic Soccer Tournament. Still in just his thirties, Belli was elected to city council, a post that he held at the time of his sad and most unexpected passing in April of 2014.

A number of the inductees who were able to make it gathered at Eddies Restaurant on Wednesday to mix and mingle with existing Sudbury Sports Hall of Famers, with the dinner now just a month away. For more information or to purchase tickets, kindly contact either Randy Pascal (info@sudburysports.com – 705-698-1627) or Joe Drago (drago@eastlink.ca – 705-207-3475) - or pick up tickets at either the House of Kin on Regent Street or at Top Glove Boxing Academy on Lorne Street.