A handful of BC athletes will have their accomplishments on display for the public to see after the BC Sports Hall of Fame unveiled its 2025 inductees last week.
The list includes five athletes, three builders-coaches, one team, one pioneer, one media member and the winner of the prestigious WAC Bennett Award.
Leading the athletes is soccer star Christine Sinclair, who is set to retire from professional soccer in the near future.
Sinclair is the all-time leading goal scorer in international soccer history for both men and women.
The Burnaby native led Canada to bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics before reaching the top of the podium and winning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Another consistent goal scorer on the list of inductees is former NHL player Ray Ferraro.
Born in Trail, BC, Ferraro spent 18 seasons with six different teams, notching 408 goals and 490 assists in 1258 games.
Ferraro represented Canada on several occasions and helped the Portland Winterhawks win the 1983 Memorial Cup.
In the 1983-84 WHL season, Ferraro set the WHL single-season record with 108 goals, including 15 hat tricks and a seven-goal performance in 1984.
Other athletes on the list are Cindy Devine (mountain biking), Nathan Hirayama (rugby) and Walter Wu (para swimming).
Devine won the first-ever UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) world downhill mountain bike championship in 1990. She then won consecutive bronze medals at the world championships in 1991 and 1992.
At the time of his retirement in 2021, Hirayama ranked third overall in scoring in the history of World Rugby Sevens with 1859 career points.
The Richmond native won two Pan American Games gold medals (2011 and 2015) and a silver medal in 2019.
Wu is one of Canada’s most decorated Paralympic athletes with 14 career medals: eight gold, four silver and two bronze.
The Richmond swimmer won seven world championship gold medals and represented Canada at four Paralympic Games (1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004).
In the builders-coaches category are Chandra Madhosingh (table tennis), Dr. Saul Miller (sports psychology) and Wes Woo (weightlifting).
In the team category is the 2000 BC Lions, who won the Grey Cup over the Montreal Alouettes.
The pioneer category features the Meraloma Club Founders, Jim Hughson was inducted in the media category and Robert Wright received the WAC Bennett Award.
“After months of anticipation, we’re energized to begin telling the stories and marking the outstanding achievements of our class of 2025,” said Tom Mayenknecht, chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
“Honouring the past – and inspiring the future – is at the very heart of the mission of the BC Sports Hall of Fame and this year’s honourees truly exemplify the best of sport in this province and beyond.”
A full description of all the inductees can be found online at this link.
