THUNDER BAY – How important was Marc Chorney induction into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame?
The former NHLer spent last week golfing in Scotland, testing his mettle against the likes of St. Andrew’s and Turnberry, two of the top courses in the world.
On Thursday, he flew back to North America, and by Saturday he made his way to Thunder Bay, where he entered the hall, one of four athletes and two builders inducted at the 41st annual induction ceremony.
Also entering the hall in 2024 were former Olympian hockey star Haley Irwin, Paralympic gold medallist Robbi Weldon, kickboxing world champion Frank Tropea, longtime curling and golf coach Karen Saarimaki and coach and educator Lee Batstone.
For Chorney, who spent part of four seasons in the NHL with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, amassing eight goals and 35 points in 210 career games between 1980 and 1984, it came as a bit of a surprise.
“I didn’t put much thought into it. As a team, playing back for the (Thunder Bay) Twins, we were inducted into the hall of fame and I thought that would be the end of it. So, this was a surprise when my phone rang about six weeks ago and Dave Siciliano’s name came up,” Chorney said.
“I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was a nice surprise.”
Weldon, left with just six per cent vision after being diagnosed with Stargardt disease, captured gold in tandem cycling at the 2012 Paralympic Games, and also competed twice for Canada at the winter Paralympics Games, in 2010 and 2014.
Entering the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is a great way to cap off an outstanding athletic career, said Weldon, who recently travelled to Paris for the 2024 Paralympic Games, where her daughter, middle-distance runner Keegan Gaunt, was competing.
“It’s a wonderful honour to be inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame,” Weldon said. “A lot of hard work went into it, but behind all the hard work and the competition was a great community of Thunder Bay and competing and cycling and Nordic skiing, two big sports in Thunder Bay, and all the support of coaches, the ski clubs … and just all the volunteers at competition over the years, I just really appreciated all the support and help.”
Tropea, who excelled in track and football during his high school days at St. Ignatius, turned to boxing, winning the 1994 intermediate 71-kilogram title. By 1995 he turned to kickboxing and a year later was crowned the World Kickboxing Association’s Canadian amateur welterweight champion. In 2005 he won the International Kickboxing Federation’s light heavyweight world title.
“I was shocked. I was very honoured,” he said about learning he’d be entering the hall.
“For me it’s kind of for myself, but it’s also for my family and all my friends and my fans that supported me over the years. It’s kind of nice to have that honour and be able to share it with everybody.”
Saarimaki, who won the 2010 Manitoba senior women’s golf championship and claims multiple Northwestern Ontario Curling Association titles, spent more than 30 years as a teacher and coach at Geraldton Composite High School, passing along her wisdom to generations of student athletes.
Like the other inductees present, it was a surprise when the call came in.
“I’m very honoured, to say the least,” she said, crediting her father for instilling a love of sport in her at a young age.
Batstone taught at Selkirk High School for more than 30 years, coaching everything from football and basketball to track and field, and was a key instigator in the creation of the Northwestern Ontario Secondary School Athletics Association. He also spent more than four decades involved in swimming.
Irwin, who won Olympic gold in 2010 and 2014, and silver in 2018, was unable to attend Saturday’s induction ceremony.
