{"id":1710,"date":"2022-06-13T20:23:32","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T00:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/2022\/06\/13\/class-of-2022-ivan-velan-award-recipient-recognized\/"},"modified":"2022-06-14T10:19:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T14:19:06","slug":"class-of-2022-ivan-velan-award-recipient-recognized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/2022\/06\/13\/class-of-2022-ivan-velan-award-recipient-recognized\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of 2022 &amp; Ivan Velan Award Recipient Recognized"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Michael Green<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Roger Harripersad<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Jack McBride&nbsp;<\/strong>were inducted into the Racquetball Canada Hall of Fame at the recent National Championships. All three have had a lasting impact on the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Green of Hamilton and Harripersad of Calgary are legendary athletes whose accomplishments at the national and international level are remarkable. McBride of St. Albert, whose work as a builder is highlighted by his contribution at the governance level nationally and internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rick Shmon<\/strong>&nbsp;of Saskatoon was awarded the Ivan Velan Award, which is Racquetball Canada&#8217;s most distinguished volunteer award. Shmon contributed to the growth and development of racquetball in Saskatchewan and across Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, Racquetball Canada inducted the Class of 2021 and 2020 who had previously been announced but weren&#8217;t formally inducted due to the cancellation of the National Championships for the past two years. Click on the year below to link to the press releases.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/conta.cc\/3aUKgfI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Class of 2020:<\/a>&nbsp;Vincent Gagnon, Heather McKay (athletes)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/conta.cc\/3xMsCno\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Class of 2021:<\/a>&nbsp;John Kempo, Howie Rankin, Ken Wilson (builders)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\/?page_id=12974#Hall-of-Fame-Honoured-Members\" target=\"_blank\">Click here&nbsp;<\/a>to view the Hall of Fame Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Michael Green &#8211; Hall of Fame: <strong>Athlete Category<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com\/racquetball-canada\/2022\/06\/umaK23MY-IMG_2070-570x424-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19971\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Mike Green has achieved outstanding success both in Canada and at the international level. As a member of Racquetball Canada&#8217;s national team, he represented Canada in international competition 32 times over a span of 23 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mike had an enormous impact of Canada&#8217;s success at the international level. The following are some of the highlights of his outstanding athletic career:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>He has been on the podium 34 times in international competition, with the majority being gold and silver medal wins<\/li><li>He is a three-time World Champion<\/li><li>He is a three-time Pan Am Games athlete with a silver and bronze podium result at two Games<\/li><li>He is a three-time Pan American Champion<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>At the national level, Mike\u2019s accomplishments are unparalleled by any other male athlete in Canadian Racquetball history. He has won 11 Men\u2019s Open Singles National Championships and 10 Men\u2019s Open Doubles National Championships for a total of 21 titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\/?page_id=19302\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a>&nbsp;to read more about Mike Green&#8217;s accomplishments and his sport legacy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Roger Harripersad &#8211; Hall of Fame: Athlete Category<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com\/racquetball-canada\/2022\/06\/OY7z4DVy-38918-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19937\" width=\"388\" height=\"388\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Roger Harripersad piled up his podium results during the 1980\u2019s, when the competitive field in Canada and abroad was at its peak. The highlights of Roger&#8217;s accomplishments include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>14 podium finishes at the national level including 2 singles open titles and 7 open doubles titles.<\/li><li>Represented Canada at 11 international tournaments. He is a three-time World Champion, a Pan American Champion and won a silver medal at the Pan Am Games<\/li><li>Only Canadian male to win the USRA Intercollegiate Championships.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roger proved his talents not only in Canada but on the highly regarded United States Professional Tour. He defeated legends like Marty Hogan, Mike Ray, Tim Doyle, Reuben Gonzales and Ed Andrews at a time when these players were top 3 on the tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"\/?page_id=19365\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here<\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>to read more about the Roger&#8217;s accomplishments and his what he contributed to racquetball.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jack McBride &#8211; Hall of Fame: Builder <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com\/racquetball-canada\/2022\/06\/BVG5cgWi-IMG_8308.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19986\" \/><figcaption>Photo credit: St. Albert Today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Jack McBride has made a significant impact on the sport at the local, provincial, national and international level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jack\u2019s involvement at the national level is highlighted by his tenure as the President of Racquetball Canada. From 2012 to 2016 Jack served as Canada\u2019s representative and as the Regional Vice President with the International Racquetball Federation (IRF). He also served on the Pan American Racquetball Confederation Board of Directors in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During Jack\u2019s tenure as President, he carved out significant time to contribute as the Host Chair of the 2014 World Championships and the racquetball event at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games the following year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jack spent countless hours to make these two events successful and to provide Canadian athlete the opportunity to experience glory on home soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\/?page_id=19264\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a>&nbsp;to read more about the contribution Jack McBride has made to the sport of racquetball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rick Shmon &#8211; Ivan Velan Award: Coach Category<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com\/racquetball-canada\/2022\/06\/IMG_8278-2-1140x1140.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20020\" width=\"328\" height=\"328\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rick Shmon coached junior programs in Saskatoon from 1976 to 1993, laying a foundation not only in Saskatoon, but also at the provincial level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Rick\u2019s involvement in the sport deepened, he impacted an elite list of Saskatchewan athletes including several who went on to attain national team status. He was the provincial Coach for Saskatchewan for seven years and contributed as a volunteer on the Racquetball Canada Junior Development Committee. He also helped develop junior racquetball across Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rick had incredible impact on athletes and as a role model taught his athletes to do their very best both at sports and in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"\/?page_id=20018\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a>&nbsp;to read more about Rick Shmon and his contribution to racquetball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Green,&nbsp;Roger Harripersad&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jack McBride&nbsp;were inducted into the Racquetball Canada Hall of Fame at the recent National Championships. All three have had a lasting impact on the sport. Green of Hamilton and Harripersad of Calgary are legendary athletes whose accomplishments at the national and international level are remarkable. McBride of St. Albert, whose work as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[65,113],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hall-of-fame-2","tag-ivan-velan-award"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1710"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1720,"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions\/1720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racquetballontario.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}