Three added to sports wall of fame
Inductees thank support from teammates, family in acceptance speeches
Agi Mete was greatly outnumbered as the only male in a Welland Sports Wall of Fame induction class of 23 people.
But the Notre Dame College School teacher’s appreciation of being part of a group enshrined in the team category at a ceremony Sunday at Seaway Mall was second to none.
“As a coach, it’s fantastic to win, but it’s nice to be around great people,” said Mete, head coach of a girls field lacrosse team that went 25-0 in 2012 on the way to win its second Ontario championship in a row.
Mete and Tina Turner, a fellow teacher at the time and an assistant coach with the 2012 team, received strong support from principal Ralph DeFazio when they started the girls field lacrosse at Notre Dame 13 years ago.
“Tina and I were truly blessed, we got to spend time with great girls,” he said on behalf of the team. “These girls had character, they handled themselves well, they were great ambassadors for the school.”
He said the team that year was a “special family” that included extra player, Turner’s daughter Julia who died of brain cancer in December 2011 at age 15
“She was with us every step of the way during the amazing journey,” he said. “The team kept her memory alive, her spirit alive with the colour purple — purple bows that the girls would wear on game day, in their hair, on their
uniform.
“It really shows how our teams stick together.
“It’s a great honour and a privilege to go on the wall with so many great inductees.”
Amanda Benoit-Wark, as an athlete, for women’s hockey; and Coaches Association of Ontario executive director Susan Kitchen, as a builder, for promoting coaching in amateur sports; were both inducted as individuals.
However, they stressed in their acceptance speeches that they were but a part of a team as well.
Benoit-Wark, who won two women’s world hockey championships playing for Canada and was an alternate for the team that won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, said a player is nothing without a team that not only includes teammates but includes strong support from family and friends.
“Without your teammates, none of this happens,” Benoit-Wark, a teacher and girls hockey coach at Ridley College in St. Catharines, said. “Without these people in my life, there’s no way I would be standing here today.
Benoit-Wark singled out her father, who taught her that “passion and hard work is the only way to get to the next level,” and her mother, who attended her games but never watched too many of them.
“Mom watched from the stands with her eyes closed,” she said. “She was always worried.
“Thank you to everybody who helped me, if I had my choice they would all be on that plaque with me.”
Kitchen said she learned the value of teamwork and the invaluable contributions coaches can make as a high school student at Welland Centennial and as a rower at Queen’s University in Kingston.
She said coaches can see the potential in people and help them reach that potential.
“Whenever you lift other people up, your lift yourself up as well,” she said.
Like the other inductees, she felt honoured to join a new team.
“I’m looking forward to hanging out with all the great athletes and contributors on that wall.”
Mayor Frank Campion, in his remarks of the municipality, said sports builds character and teamwork, while constituency aide Lauren Aiello, representing Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey, said the benefits of sports in a community “extend far beyond the field of play.”