The Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame class of 2018 has been announced.
Special Olympics coach Donna Bilous is the lone permanent individual inductee, with 12 individuals and four teams to be recognized on the Wall of Fame for outstanding performances in 2018.
Bilous is being honoured as a community sport builder, and she’s the first-ever ASHOF inductee whose contributions have primarily come in the realm of the Special Olympics. She will be officially enshrined at the annual Hall of Fame banquet on Saturday, April 28 at the Legacy Sports Centre.
Bilous has coached athletes in both winter and summer sports at multiple provincial, national and international competitions over her 14 years with the local chapter of Special Olympics BC. During that time, she’s fostered continual development of athletes, helped to expand programming options, and recruited and mentored young adults to join her in the coaching ranks.
Bilous’s involvement is primarily in speed skating and soccer, and she’s served in a wide variety of coaching, officiating, mission staff and administration roles. She’s coached with Team Canada at four Special Olympics World Games: the World Winter Games in 2009 (Boise, Idaho), 2013 (Pyeongchang, South Korea) and 2017 (Graz, Austria), and the 2011 World Summer Games (Athens, Greece). Her work has garnered a number of awards – in 2011 and 2017, she was Special Olympics BC’s Howard Carter Award recipient as coach of the year, and she was named Special Olympics Canada’s female coach of the year for 2017. She’s also a Speed Skating Canada Level 3A-certified official – one of just four women at that level nationwide.
In addition to her work with local athletes, Bilous has promoted the growth of Special Olympics speed skating at an international level. At her past three World Winter Games (2009, 2013 and 2017), she spent considerable time with less experienced coaches from other nations – including Poland and Syria – on technical aspects including skate sharpening, equipment maintenance and sport rules.
She has also become a recognized expert in health development for persons with disabilities, in light of her experience as a coach, as a parent of a Special Olympics athlete, and as a registered nurse with over 40 years experience. She’s spoken at several high-profile events, including the 2017 Champions for Health Care summit.
Bilous’s coaching philosophy emphasizes mutual respect and lifelong learning, and she’s helped her athletes develop confidence and independence along with their sport-specific skills.
The 12 individuals named to the wall for 2018 include: volleyballer Cole Brandsma, judo athlete Turner Cyr, rugby player Hunter Czeppel, basketball player Josh Dhillon, rugby player Jared Douglas, judo athlete Payton Harris, wrestler Tanjot Kahlon, volleyballer Colton Loewen, speed skater Paige Norton, rugby player Brock McCartney, wrestler Karam Shergill and wrestler Jade Trolland.
Brandsma led the Fraser Valley Volleyball Club to a U16 B.C. title and also helped the Abbotsford Christian Knights win silver at the AA provincials.
Cyr won gold medals in judo at Youth Provincial Championships, a pair of golds at the Canada West Invitational, and gold and silver at the Rainier Cup. He also won medals at competitions in Edmonton, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Ontario.
Czeppel represented Canada at the U18 level in fifteens rugby. She helped Team Canada sweep a two-game series against the United States by an aggregate score of 83-17, scoring a try in each game. She also suited up for Team B.C. in both sevens and fifteens, winning a national title with the B.C. sevens.
Dhillon brought a provincial basketball title to the Rick Hansen Hurricanes senior boys program for the first time ever last March.
Douglas represented Canada on the international stage 22 times in 2017, scoring three tries and helping Canada win its first-ever HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournament title in Singapore.
Harris earned judo gold medals at the Saskatchewan Open, the Youth Provincial Championships, the Pacific Open, and the Canadian Open Nationals.
Kahlon won wrestling gold in the 100 kg class at the B.C. high school championships. He went on to win silver at the Canadian juvenile championships, and added individual bronze and team silver medals at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
Loewen helped the TWU Spartans to volleyball national silver in his rookie year.
Norton won speed skating gold in the 2000 metres and silver in the 500m at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2017. She also won the Special Olympics BC athlete of the year, and the Special Olympics Canada female athlete of the year.
McCartney celebrated a Fraser Valley championship with his Robert Bateman Timberwolves school team, a provincial title with the Fraser Valley East regional squad, and a national silver medal with Team B.C.
Shergill won gold in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions at the Canadian Juvenile championships. He also won a B.C. high school gold medal in behalf of the W.J. Mouat Hawks, and finished atop his weight class at the Western Canada Games.
Trolland won gold in her weight class at the Canada Summer Games. She was also selected to participate in a tournament in Japan as part of Wrestling Canada’s developmental program.
Wall of Fame teams include: the provincial champion squad, the senior boys 3A provincial basketball champion Rick Hansen Hurricanes and the CCAA and Pacwest champion University of the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s and women’s golf teams.
For more on the hall, visit abbysportshalloffame.com.