Corryn Brown's 2013 national championship team was inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday evening at TRU (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame inductees honoured at ceremony Saturday evening

Apr 30, 2022 | 8:26 PM

KAMLOOPS — Four deserving individuals and one team were officially enshrined into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The Corryn Brown rink — also sporting Erin Pincott, Samantha Fisher and Sydney Fraser — that won the 2013 Canadian Junior Curling Championship were recognized for the great season it had.

“I didn’t think it was going to be this quick, but we’re incredibly honoured. 2013 was an incredible year for us and I’m really happy that’s being commemorated,” Brown told CFJC Today after her team was officially inducted.

Brown believes it was one of the launching points in the team’s illustrious curling career to this point that has seen the Kamloops rink play in two Scotties in the last three years.

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“We did have a prior win at the Canada Games in 2011. That was probably the first one, but the one that really put us on the map was definitely that championship in 2013,” said Brown. “I think I gained 250 followers overnight from that, so it was a pretty cool experience and I definitely got some notoriety for it.”

Staying on the ice, Rob Kuroyama, who played was a third on Barry McPhee’s rink that represented B.C. at the Brier in 1981 and 1986, got his moment in the spotlight at Thompson Rivers University.

“Being a sports person and being born in Kamloops — I’ve lived here my whole life — it just means the world to me. It’s quite an honour,” said Kuroyama, who was also an accomplished baseball player. “So lucky and so thankful for everybody who’s helped to this point.”

Playing in two Briers — with great friends on McPhee’s rink — were special moments in Kuroyama’s career.

“It’s every curler’s dream to get to the Brier,” he said. “But just the great friends you meet along the way and they’re still some of my best friends. I’m really lucky to have played alongside a lot of great people.”

Also inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday evening was Ellie Terweil, a member of the Sun Peaks Alpine Club who represented Canada internationally, including at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

“It’s an incredible honour. I was not anticipating being inducted,” said Terweil, who’s now an engineer based in the San Francisco area. “To come back to my community and be inducted into the Hall of Fame, it just shows what a strong community this is and how supportive they are of their athletes.”

Jack Isenor, who grew up in Westsyde, says his life changed when he was hired at Our Lady of Perpetual Help [OLPH], where he spent nearly four decades impacting student-athletes as the Athletic Director.

“I’m very honoured, priviledged and proud to be going into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame,” noted Isenor. “Who would’ve ever thought a little kid from Westsyde would ever get into the Hall of Fame? I am thrilled to be in.”

The fourth induction of the night was Eric Schweizer, a former soccer coach in Kamloops who led his teams to six Okanagan championships and four B.C. titles.

Schweizer also coached the TRU WolfPack and was named Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 2008.

“When Rick Wile [from the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame selection commitee] phoned me two or three weeks ago, I couldn’t believe it, but since then I’m very honoured to be in it with other people that I’ve worked with and that I’ve known. It’s an honour to get in.”