The Guelph Sports Hall of Fame has officially welcomed five new members.
Former Guelph Storm general manager Mike Kelly, women’s softball coach Dave Vallance, long-distance runner Elizabeth Waywill, swimmer Kevin Auger and former hockey executive Evan Brill were inducted during a ceremony at the Kiwanis Sports Celebrity Dinner on Wednesday at the Italian Canadian Club.
For Kelly, this honour was a feather in the cap.
“I never saw myself worthy of being in the Hall of Fame,” said Kelly. “There were so many people who have gone in ahead of me. But once I got over the shock, there was jubilation and I feel humbled by it.”
Kelly was the first-ever GM of the Storm in 1991 when the team moved from Hamilton. A couple of former Storm players during Kelly’s tenure were sitting with him at the head table: Jeff O’Neill and Todd Bertuzzi. Both spoke very highly of Kelly, saying he played a huge part in their success in the NHL.
“It just wasn’t about making good hockey players,” Kelly said. “We genuinely wanted to make them good people and be able to contribute to society.”
Also in attendance at the ceremony was another member of the Guelph Sports Hall of Fame, former part-owner and president of the Storm Jim Rooney. He says it is great to see Kelly get his moment.
“When we were building our franchise, we wanted champions and Mike was the first employee,” Rooney said. “I’ve had the privilege of being a friend of his. The honour was phenomenal for both he and his family.”
Vallance began as a baseball player but made his mark in coaching. He helped lead four teams to national championships, including three from the Royal City who are already in the Hall of Fame. Many of the players he coached received scholarships to NCAA schools and have also gone on to play for Canada’s national team.
Waywill is the holder of eight Canadian records in seven road distances despite not starting long-distance running until she was in her 40s. One of the records she holds was at the 2018 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, where she broke a 20-year-old record in the W60 category.
“It’s an honour to be given this achievement,” Waywill said of her induction, which was attended by a number of her friends and family.
Auger’s dream of competing in the Olympics in 1980 were dashed when Canada joined the boycott of the Summer Games that were being held in Moscow. Despite that, he would go on to become a two-time Big 10 swimming champion at the University of Indiana.
Brill (known to many as “Chesty”) helped bring Junior A hockey back to Guelph in 1947. He eventually became president and owner of the Guelph Biltmore Madhatters. The team won the Junior A championship in 1950.
Brill died in April 1992. His granddaughter Carol Spira was on hand to accept his induction into the hall.
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