The School of Kinesiology & Health Science has announced the 2009 inductees for the York University Sport Hall of Fame. Four former interuniversity athletes and two administrators will be inducted during the dinner and ceremony on Thursday, May 28.
Created in 1980, the Sport Hall of Fame honours individuals who have significantly contributed to York’s interuniversity sport program as athletes, coaches and administrators; and who have exemplified the spirit and ideals of York University sports in their professional and community life. The selection committee consisted of varsity alumni, current student-athletes and several University administrators, including Jennifer Myers, director, Sport & Recreation.
Paul Jones (BSc Spec. Hons. '80) won three provincial titles (1977-1978, 1979-1980, 1980-1981) as a member of the York men’s basketball team and was awarded the Kitch McPherson Trophy as most valuable player of the Ontario championship game in 1980-1981. A two-time Ontario all-star, Jones participated in the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) national championship tournament four times and won two bronze medals. In 1983, he won a silver medal as a member of the team that represented Canada in the Commonwealth Basketball Tournament in New Zealand. Jones now serves as the play-by-play voice of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors on The FAN 590 radio broadcasts in Toronto.
Susan (Craig) Kuck (BA Hons. '92) played for the York women’s volleyball team from 1988-1993 and helped guide the team to four consecutive appearances at the CIAU national championship tournament, where she won a pair of bronze medals in 1990 and 1991. York advanced to the nationals those years (1989-93) after winning four provincial championships in a row. Kuck, who played for the Canadian national junior team before coming to York, was named an Ontario all-star all five years she played at York and a CIAU all-Canadian three times.
Dirk Leers (BA Spec. Hons. & BEd '86) is a two-time recipient of the J.P. Metras Trophy for Ontario lineman of the year (1984-1985, 1985-1986), one of only two players in league history to win the award more than once. A member of the football team from 1981-1985, Leers was named an Ontario all-star on three occasions and a CIAU all-Canadian twice. He captained the team to a 5-2 record in 1985.
Karen (Jackson) Northey (BSc Hons. '97) was named York’s female athlete of the year in 1997 after a remarkable season in which she led the women’s basketball team to a silver medal at the CIAU national tournament and an Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) silver medal finish. In that year, she was named to the CIAU and OWIAA all-tournament teams, received all-Canadian and OWIAA all-star honours and was named OWIAA most valuable player. She began her five-year career (1993-1998) at York by being named to the CIAU all-rookie team in 1994 and was named an OWIAA all-star five times. Northey still holds York records for most points in a season (418), most rebounds in a game (22) and most rebounds in a career (589).
Stuart Robbins spent 13 years as chair of the School of Physical Education & Athletics (1981-1986, 1989-1997) and was the associate dean of the Faculty of Education from 1978 to 1980. In the 1980s, he guided York to significant growth in the sport program, overseeing national championship appearances by several teams, a fitness and aerobics boom, opportunities to develop new facilities and the expansion of the Sport Hall of Fame and the XY Club, an alumni association for athletes. In his time at York from 1974 to 2000, Robbins also taught more than 30 graduate and undergraduate classes and coached the York men’s soccer team from 1983 to 1986.
Carol Wilson has played a major role in the development of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science since her appointment at York in 1970. She has served as the associate recreation coordinator (1970-1974), sport clubs coordinator (1974-1980), acting chair (1995-1996) and two terms as the undergraduate program director (1997-2001, 2002-2005). She was instrumental in the founding of the Sport Hall of Fame in 1980 and played a leading role in the development of the XY Club. Wilson served as York’s swimming head coach for 18 years (women 1970-1988, and men 1984-1988) and was named the Ontario-Quebec University Athletic Union Swim Coach of the Year in 1971. She has contributed significantly to The Royal Lifesaving Society Canada and to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport and Ontario University Athletics. Wilson is currently a senior lecturer in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science.
The Sport Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony will take place at the Montecassino Banquet Hall in Woodbridge. Tickets are $75 per person or $600 per table (eight seats) and are available at the Sport York Office, 302 Tait McKenzie Centre, 416-736-2100 ext. 77205 or online at the York Alumni Association Events Web page, (see bottom of the page). Click here for printable forms.