5 for hall of fame

The Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame swelled to 33 Thursday with the inclusion of five new members at an induction gala at the Coast Capri Hotel Thursday morning.

Hockey player Wayne Hicks (pioneer athlete), racquetball player Christie Van Hees (athlete), trampoliner Sarah Charles (athlete), volleyball coach Rod Belinski (builder) and John and Jennifer Hindle (special Bennett award) were all indicted during the two hour ceremony,

Only Hicks, who lives in Scottsdale AZ was unable to attend. He was represented by his twin brother Warren.

Wayne Hicks is the only product of Kelowna Minor Hockey to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Hicks played just one game with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1960-1961 season. Because of injuries, it happened to be the sixth and deciding game of the Stanley Cup final against Detroit.

While accepting the induction, Warren Hicks relayed some thoughts from his brother.

"It's an honour to be accepted. The bar has been set high for induction. You probably have to be a national champion, a world title perhaps or a Stanley Cup.

"The Okanagan Valley has produced so many great athletes over the past decades and it's overwhelming to me to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the best. The Okanagan Valley has produced many great hockey players and it makes me proud to be one of them and the first from the area to win the Stanley Cup."

Christie Van Hees won eight straight national junior racquetball championships, is a six time Canadian ladies champion, won a world title in 1998 and captured three US Open titles. She was also ranked number one in the world in 2005.

Van Hees, who now lives in Dallas, was in Kelowna to accept the induction.

"Kelowna in its small size and abundance of activity had truly offered me the opportunity to thrive as a professional athlete. While racquetball offered me the opportunity to see the world, I always loved coming home to the sanctity of the mountains, to skiing and horseback riding.

"It provided me with a sense of community. Travelling and competing in an individual sport can be isolating. Returning to my hometown and my club with the people I grew up with was very fulfilling and gave me the balance I needed to be successful. While I have been gone for some time now to Dallas, I always love returning for this very reason."

Sarah Charles is the best athlete in the sport of trampoline to come out of Kelowna.

At age 17, she won her first of two world championships in the double mini event and followed that up with a gold medal at the Pan Am Games. She would win a second world title in 2007 but a back injury prevented her from representing Canada at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Charles, who now lives in Toronto, was in Kelowna for the ceremony.

She took the opportunity Thursday to reflect back on what sports has meant to her.

"I really love sport and I love physical activity. I feel so fortunate that I was given the opportunity when I was really young to become physically competent and become confident in my body's ability," said Charles.

"Not all kids are given that same chance. I know we are all here to celebrate elite sport and high performance sport but I feel the most virtuous aspects of sport are found in more balanced and fun and healthful physical activity.

"There are two people over there at that table, my parents, who are real advocates for that in this community so, I feel kind of humbled getting an award when they are the ones that have done so much work."

Despite never playing the sport, Rod Belinski has become one of the most successful high school volleyball coaches the province has ever produced.

A self-described technician and disciplinarian, Belinski said he was described early on as a dictator. He was also tough, but fair.

Belinksi built a volleyball dynasty at KLO, leading the boys program to five provincial championships. He was later the driving force behind Kelowna being named host of the provincial high school championships for 20 consecutive years.

That string was broken following the 2014 championships when the gym at UBC Okanagan was no longer able to serve as host.

John and Jennifer Hindle were presented with thee WAC, WR Bennett Special Recognition Award.

John Hindle, a former mayor of Kelowna, was the driving force behind the Apple Triathlon while his wife Jennifer was an advocate for arts in the community.

They were presented Bennett award for their lifelong contributions to both sport and the arts in Kelowna.

"The joy the two of them shared was creating community here in the Okanagan. That's what they got a real kick out of," said their son, Dan Hindle.

"He pursued that (triathlon) as he pursued everything, relentlessly if it meant something good and something better for everybody else. That's where they came from."