Canadian rugby star and former Olympian Justin Douglas has received the call for the hall.
The Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame announced that Douglas is the headliner for the event, which is set for April 26.
He originally began in the sport at Clayburn Middle School, aiming to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers Travis and Jared. From there, he excelled at Robert Bateman Secondary School before joining up with provincial team programs. Douglas went on to compete at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games, before eventually cracking the Canadian men’s team roster in 2012.
Douglas represented Canada at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2013 and 2019 and went on to win a gold medal at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games. He also was a part of Canada’s Commonwealth Games teams in 2014 and 2018.
On the Sevens Series circuit, Douglas became a mainstay with the Canadian beginning in the 2014 season, finishing in the top-10 in matches and tries as Canada. Since then, Douglas grew into one of the top performers for Canada as he sits second in tries (145) and third in tackles (320).
Douglas had a career highlight with Canada at the 2017 Singapore Sevens Cup, scoring three tries to help Canada to their first-ever tournament win. In 2018 Douglas was awarded the Sevens Series Impact Player of the Year, leading Canada with 35 tries.
He went on to represent Canada at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics in rugby sevens and helped that team place eighth in the world. He scored 15 points on three tries in six games as Canada advanced to the quarterfinals in Tokyo.
The 30-year-old retired from the sport in 2021.
The ASHOF also plans to honour two longtime local coaches for their service and success in the sports of basketball and hockey.
Yale Secondary basketball coach Euan Roberts has been coaching Lions teams for 27 years and guided the senior boys team to a 4A provincial title as a head coach in 2015. Roberts had an excellent collegiate career as a player and helped the Brandon University Bobcats win the 1996 CIAU national title. He was also a league all-star for the Bobcats in the final three years of his career. Roberts was inducted into the Bobcats hall of fame in 2018.
Following his time with the Bobcats, he played professionally in Iceland and was a member of Canada's National 'B' Team that competed in the Jones Cup in Taiwan in the summer of 1995. He initially joined Yale Secondary as an assistant coach and helped the senior boys program win a pair of provincial championships in that role. Roberts went on to coach the senior girls team at Yale before taking over the senior boys program.
During his time at the helm of the senior boys program they have regularly been competitive and are often in the mix for a provincial title.
Current Yale Hockey Academy and former Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association head coach Brad Bowen is also being honoured.
Bowen moved to Abbotsford in 2001 and spent the next 10 years coaching rep hockey programs with the AMHA. He joined the YHA in 2006 and continues to be coach with that program to this day. Bowen is also the YHA's operations coordinator.
With YHA he has captured four league championships and multiple tournament championships, including the World U16 Tournament in Chicago in 2014. He also coached the team to three John Reid Memorial Championships tournament wins.
Bowen served as head scout for the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers from 2003 to 2007 and then as an area scout for the New York Islanders from 2007 to 2010. He has helped develop NHL talents like Devon Toews, Shea Theodore, Dylan Cozens, Bowen Byram and Zach Benson.
The following athletes and teams will be honoured on the wall of fame for a remarkable 2024:
- Ryan Sheldrake - lacrosse
- Lily Gronberg - lacrosse
- Kailyn Haig - softball
- Michaeljeet Grewal - wrestling
- Tejvir Dhinsa - wrestling
- Jagroop Dhinsa - wrestling
- Theo Manuel - track and field
- Aysia Kumar - basketball
- Alexis Dobson - rugby
- Abbotsford Outlaws 09A - softball
- 2024 Mouat Hawks senior boys wrestling
- 2024 Bateman Timberwolves junior boys rugby
- 2024 Bateman Timberwolves junior boys football
The banquet event is set for the Legacy Sports Centre building (32470 Haida Dr.) on Saturday, April 26 starting at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit abbysportshalloffame.ca.
