Siksika Sports Hall of Fame seeks to promote athletes and community

By Lorenzo Gavilan Vargas Times Reporter

Siksika Parks and Recreation and SN7 are looking for nominees for the Siksika Sports Hall of Fame. 

Richard Running Rabbit, recreation team leader at Siksika Health Services, explained the new initiative was created in celebration of National Indigenous History Month, and as a response to the mental health impact of the pandemic on Siksika youth.

“A lot of our focus was on the pandemic response. It’s also highlighted a lot of deficiencies that we have in our community in terms of addiction and mental health,” said Running Rabbit. “So we wanted to focus on something positive and remember those that made a good impact, a positive impact on the community with their organization, with their involvement in sports, whether it was as an athlete, or as an organizer or builder.”

The organizers of the Hall of Fame are looking for nominees through email and encouraging a wide range of people to nominate others.

“There are a lot of deserving candidates, so we didn’t want to discourage anyone from applying because we felt that everybody’s contribution was worth noting,” said Running Rabbit.

There have been around a dozen nominations already and the organizers are planning on inducting “no more than three or four” individuals a year, according to Running Rabbit. There are plans for a bigger award ceremony in September as well.

“We want to tie it to an awards ceremony for achievement in sports, and so there will be a number of different types of awards that will be handed out, which would also include scholarships for young athletes that are trying to take it to the next level, and those will be acknowledged and promoted, and that’s our goal.”

Another goal for the Hall of Fame is to inspire young athletes.

“One of the goals of having a Siksika Sports Hall of Fame is that these stories aren’t lost, that we continue to promote the achievements of our young people and people of the past. And we want to inspire them when they come to the complex; we want them to know about the history,” noted Running Rabbit. “Some might take inspiration because they’re related to some of these people, and they didn’t know the full history. So we want to preserve that.”

Nominations for the Siksika Sports Hall of Fame are only open for the month of June.

One possible candidate for the hall is Anson McMaster, defenseman for the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL. McMaster was born and started playing hockey in Siksika, which played a large part in his career so far. 

“The whole nation has been on my side ever since I can remember, and I thank them for that. They’ve been a huge part in my career, and I don’t know what I’d do without them, whether that was them helping out with some training fees or just being a friend to talk to, I can’t thank them enough,” he said.

McMaster said his goal is to make it to the NHL. Academically, he wants to get his business degree and start his own company.

Another candidate for the Hall of Fame is Kobe Holloway. He is currently enrolled at the University of Alberta and is a part of the football program. He started playing football in Strathmore until Grade 10, when he moved to the U.S. to pursue better competition.

“I played high school football in Alabama for Grades 11 and 12. From there, I got offers from D1 schools and from U.S. schools, but I didn’t want to go to a school that was just about athletics. I wanted to go to a school where I can get an education so I can have a backup plan just in case football didn’t work out,” he said.

Balancing academics and athletics comes easy to Holloway, thanks to his parents.

“My parents always made it a big point to schedule your time wisely,” he said. “I always had a sense that I needed to get my schoolwork done first before I could play football.”

Holloway’s plans for the future involve a career in the medical field.

“Ideally for me, I want to become a neurosurgeon. But if that doesn’t work out then just becoming a doctor in general, it doesn’t matter, the practice or the field or anything. Just as long as I’m a doctor,” he said. “I want to give back to the community; I want to go back to Siksika and become a motivational person that someone can look up to and they can see that if they commit to their goals and dreams, that it is possible because I did it.”

Holloway is taking the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) this August.