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BC SPORTS HALL OF fAME

BC Sports Hall of Fame bestows service awards on longtime Kamloops builders

Sep 23, 2024 | 6:45 PM

KAMLOOPS – Provincially, Kamloops is known as a sport-centred community and last week, six of those responsible for building that reputation were recognized. The BC Sports Hall of Fame held its annual summit in Kamloops for the first time.

This year, the hall added six new names to the list of recipients of the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards, recognizing long-standing service and significant contributions to the larger BC sports community generally over 25 years.

All six of this year’s recipients are local to Kamloops, including Frank D’Amore – the creator of the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame; Henry Pejril – long-standing president of the Kamloops Sports Council; Ron McColl – chair of PacificSport Interior BC; Judy Armstrong – president of the Kamloops Track and Field Club; Jan and Wayne Harper – executive leadership of Kamloops International Baseball Tournament; and longtime CFJC sports director Earl Seitz.

“It’s really amazing to honour those kinds of people in Kamloops and kind of get it on a provincial scale,” said Duncan Olthuis from the Kamloops Sports Council. “Having the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame here highlights what we have at the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame.”

Beginning in 2018, there have been 39 recipients of the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards, named after the first curator, executive director and founder of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

“I followed [Eric Whitehead] for a lot of years and respected everything that he ever did,” Earl Seitz told CFJC News. “It’s such a great honour to be able to receive something that’s named after Eric Whitehead.”

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