A team inducted into the Hall of Fame is an incredible achievement, one that
requires a combination of exceptional talent, consistent performance,
and recognition by peers and experts in the sporting community. Sports teams that achieve victory usually
have ambitious goals and always demonstrate an extraordinary team
cohesiveness. It is not just their combined athletic skills that
earn championships, it is the individual commitments to the team
effort that garners the respect of fellow competitors and spectators
alike.
Explore the Teams that have been honoured in this category and follow the link to access their full stories, photos and the names of the members of each team.
Live Wires were a spirited and "powerhouse" softball team. They placed the community of Falun and the District of Bigstone on the sports map and their athletic achievements and enthusiasm are still the talk among the seniors in the Falun Community. The Live Wires did not just play softball. Five participated in the Dominion Women's Track and Field Championship; the team the players staged song‑dance‑skit concerts at Lone Ridge and were cheerleaders at the annual Pigeon Lake Hockey Challenge.
Full Story
The
Wetaskiwin Cubs were the first team from Wetaskiwin to win a
District of Alberta. NWT championship. Defeating fourteen teams they emerge the champions and received the large
silver beer keg trophy and had their team picture placed on cigar
boxes with the title "Alberta Champions". Wetaskiwin was the best in
the West!
Organized
in 1943 this group of young fellows from the Brightview
area west of Wetaskiwin played fastball, for the fun of
it, against
other country teams in the area. The team practiced and played
their home games on a diamond on local farmland, Willie Kaiser’s farm, and eventually became the dominant men’s fastball team in
Central Alberta during the late 1940’s. The Huskies continued to win almost
all the games they played. One memorable game was played at Clover Lawn
where the pitcher struck out 24 of the 27 batters.
The score was 27-0.
Of all teams to play during that era, it was the 1973-74 Wetaskiwin Colonels Team which had the greatest success. Their few losses that year came at the beginning of the season due to injuries to key players. With the return of the injured players to the line-up, the Colonels dominated play and led in most categories. They went on to win eight titles.
Full Story
League champions - for five years the Sabres teams were undefeated in league, play-off and exhibition games and amassed a record of 46 wins, 3 ties and 0 losses - the 1956 team was so dominant that they scored a total of 404 points and had 34 points scored against them. Supportive fans formed a cavalcade of cars to follow the team to games outside of Wetaskiwin.
Full Story
The team started practicing in February in the Wetaskiwin Drill Hall. Batting practice consisted of trying to hit a ball on a string swung from a hockey stick. The coach poked holes in the tennis balls so coming out of the pitching machine they'd curve or drop - making this team dominate the Men's League completely. They had it all: good pitching, strong batting and fast base running.
Full Story
For the Wetaskiwin High School Senior Girls Volleyball team, 1990 was a magical year. Nine of the eleven team members had been Provincial Champions the preceding year at the ‘3A’ level. After their success in 1989, the girls and their coach felt it would be more challenging to compete at the ‘4A’ higher level.....and just maybe, achieve their dream of being the very best high school volleyball players in Alberta.
Full Story
For two hockey seasons (1986-1987 & 1987-1988) a group of talented 14 and 15 year-old young men brought excitement and recognition to Wetaskiwin by capturing the Provincial Bantam A Championships. Besides winning the Provincial title, each of these teams were League Champions and won numerous tournaments. After Bantam, ten of the team members went on to play Junior hockey. Four played in the WHL, the others were spread around in the AJHL, SJHL and the BCJHL. Nine of the players were on the first Iceman Junior B Team in 1991.
Full Story
The 1986 Sabres were one of those special, strong and talented teams, League Champions that played in the Provincial Championships at the Tier I level even though Wetaskiwin High School was classified as a Tier II school that year. They were able to shake off a 27-0 loss to the Stettler Wildcats in their opening game and finished the remainder of the season undefeated. Statistically, the Sabres ranked highly in offense, defense and special teams. Most impressive was the Sabre’s passing game..
Full Story
For two fastball seasons, a group of talented 17 and 18 year old young men brought excitement and recognition to the small community of Falun by capturing the Provincial Juvenile Fastball Championships. Twenty-one players composed the two teams and eleven of those players played on both teams. The head coach both years was Clayton Managhan with Keith Andersen serving as assistant coach in 1968 and Frank (Francis) Reglin and Lorne Ganske in 1969. The Pigeon Lake Playboys of 1968 and 1969 were the first Falun teams to win Provincial Championships and were the teams that began the Falun dynasty that continued for the next 25 years and led to Fastball Alberta calling Falun the “Fastball Capital of Alberta”.
Full Story
In 1980 a group of five and six year-old boys started playing fastball together at Falun. When they were eight and nine years-old they started playing competitively at the Squirt Level and entered the zone play downs. As Squirts they won the Provincial Championship in 1984 and again in 1985 as Peewees. The core of this group played together up to the Midget Level. As Bantams they won the Provincials in 1987 and 1988 and as Provincial Champions they represented Alberta at the Western Canadians both years. At Westerns, in 1987, they placed fourth and in 1988 the team won the Silver Medal. As Midgets in 1990 they again won the Provincial Championship and then went on to represent Alberta at the Canadian Championships.
Full Story
In 1991 the Wetaskiwin
Icemen Hockey Team was formed and their mission was to provide young
athletes between the ages of fifteen and twenty-one the
opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in the
game of hockey and to assist young persons in the
advancement of their educational and occupational goals
so as to produce well rounded, community oriented
leaders of sound character and integrity. This
year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Icemen Hockey
Association, and in the twenty-five years of the team’s
existence over 400 players have had a chance to play
Junior B hockey in Wetaskiwin. In the first year the team
ended the regular season with an impressive 31-5
win-loss record for a solid second place finish in the
league.
The 1977 Wetaskiwin Legion Bantam and the Wetaskiwin Sport Shop Midget Fastball Teams are being inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame for winning two Provincial Titles and two Western Canadian titles. To date they are the only teams that have been inducted that were able to win both the Provincial and the Western Canadian Championships and incredibly they were able to accomplish the feat twice! Although not all of the men being inducted played on both teams a core group were members of both teams. When the boys were younger, some of them were also together on teams that won the provincial title in 1973 as Mites and again in 1975 as Peewees.
Full Story
The Wetaskiwin Composite High School Sabres football program dates back to 1953. Over the decades there have been some powerful and successful teams. From 1954 to 1958 the Sabres had a run of five consecutive league championships and from 1975 to 2006, the Sabres teams won 10 league championships. To date, the 2006 WCHS Sabres Football team is the most successful WCHS football team. This football team not only won the league championship but became the first and only WCHS football team to win the Provincial Championship.
Full Story
The Wetaskiwin Warlords were a Special Olympics team that was organized for a couple of years in order to play ball in the St. Paul Alberta’s Special Olympics Annual Tournament. Teams from all over the province and even other provinces competed at this tournament. After the first year of participating in St Paul and realizing how much fun it was, two teams from Wetaskiwin attended the tournament the second year, an “A” team and a “B” team. It was in the second year that the “A” team garnered success with some rather accomplished athletes. The “A” team won the tournament and both teams had a great, fun-filled experience. A couple of weeks after the tournament Special Olympics Alberta informed the Warlords that because of their win they were chosen to be Team Alberta at a national tournament in Surrey BC.
Full Story
The Wetaskiwin Avalanche Juvenile Men’s Volleyball Team, a group of Wetaskiwin 16, 17 and 18 year olds, was successful in winning the 1981 Juvenile Provincial Volleyball Championships and the Bronze Medal at the National Juvenile Volleyball Championships. They became the first team from Wetaskiwin in any sport to win a medal at a National Championship and remain the most decorated Volleyball Team in Wetaskiwin’s history. In the beginning the Avalanche had not competed much, but played exhibition matches against University, College and Senior Men’s A teams. Their competitive play so impressed a touring Senior Men’s 1st Division club from Germany and thereby brought international volleyball to Wetaskiwin.
Full Story
In 1966, there was no
Wetaskiwin minor fastball program available for youngsters. The
Senior Men’s Fastball Team was approached by parents of young boys that were
interested in playing fastball. At the first practice, ten
boys showed up but as the season progressed more kids joined the program and
eventually there was over twenty participants. In the first year they were basically getting comfortable in a position on the diamond. In year two the team played exhibition games. In year three, 1968 they won the Provincial Championship. quite an impressive accomplishment and a tribute to their athletic
ability and the coaching they received.
The 1996 Doane Raymond Rockies are Wetaskiwin’s one
and only age group baseball team to win a Provincial AA title. Unlike other Hall of Fame teams that have had
sustained success, the Doane Raymond Rockies greatness lasted one short summer
in 1996. Despite the fleeting success, this championship team was eight years
in the making. The team figured out a formula that resulted in the sqad being undefeated in 1996. Aachieving a 10-0 record through three provincial
play down rounds they qualified for the finals. They capped off their undefeated season with a 15-0 record for the championship.
Delve into the highlights of another Category of Induction
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