Wallaceburg Sports Hall of Fame annual award winners

The annual Wallaceburg Sports Hall of Fame Awards Banquet is set to take place on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at the UAW Hall in Wallaceburg.

Doors open at 5 p.m. and tickets are available for purchase at Kim Murray Insurance in Wallaceburg.

Cost is $70 per ticket.

Organizers have announced their annual slate of award winner and inductees, along with this year’s guest speaker. The guest speaker is Greg Harrison, who has designed hundreds of goalie mask for NHL goalies.

Listed below are the biographies of the annual award winners:

2023 Ray Aarssen / Sports Hall of Fame Scholarship – Ashton Vink

Born in 2005, Ashton grew up in Wallaceburg and went to Wallaceburg District Secondary School from Grade 7 to Grade 12.

During his time at WDSS, he received the following athletic awards: Rookie of the Year (Grade
9), Tartan Trophy/Senior Athlete of the Year (Grade 11 and Grade 12), Andy Johnston Memorial Award for Promoting Athletic Events (Grade 12), Brad Lightfoot Memorial Scholarship Award (Grade 12), and an Athletic Contribution Letter (Grade 12).

Ashton was an LKSSAA and Bronze Boot champion in football, 2x LKSSAA champion (football, swimming), 4x SWOSSAA qualifier (football, golf, swimming, track and field), OFSAA qualifier (swimming), and was selected as team captain for seven of the Tartan teams that he played for. COVID-19 only allowed Ashton to play a total of 2 1⁄2 years of sports at WDSS.

In his senior year at WDSS, he played: football, where he was named captain and MVP; volleyball, where he was a starter; golf, where he was named captain, and MVP, and qualified for SWOSSAA; swimming, where he was selected for the Coaches Choice award, was LKSSAA champion, and qualified for OFSAA; basketball, where he was named captain, and MVP; soccer, where he was named captain; track and field, where he qualified for SWOSSAA; and badminton, where he was captain, and MVP.

Outside of school, he has played Wallaceburg Sting Soccer, on the Jamieson Junior Golf Tour, with the Canadian Junior Golf Association, and currently plays for the Chatham Kent Cougars varsity football team.

Ashton was elected as valedictorian of the WDSS class of 2023. At commencement he received the Homeward Realty Most Outstanding Student award, WDSS Staff Appreciation Award, and a School Contribution Letter. He graduated WDSS with an 88% cumulative average.

Ashton was involved with his school by being a member of the Student Council, Student Athletic Association, among other things. He is also involved with the community by most notably, being a volunteer at U-Turn Ministries, and Basketball Wallaceburg events.

Last June, he was the recipient of the prestigious Dr. Jack Parry Award for the top graduating male student-athlete in Chatham-Kent.

Last fall he was the leading scorer for the Lambton College Lions men’s soccer team. He owes a lot of his success to his mom and family. His favorite coaches were: Rob Maclachlan, Janine Day, Lee O’Neil, Peter Rountree, and Nancy Schinkelshoek.

Ashton now studies Instrumentation and Control Engineering Technology at Lambton College and is preparing to quarterback the Chatham-Kent Cougars Varsity football team this summer.

2023 Builder of the Year – Steve Bilodeau Memorial Golf Tournament

Steve Bilodeau lost his short battle with cancer in March of 2022, at the age of 59.
He was known for his love of the Wallaceburg community, as well as for his belief in the town’s potential.

With an immense hole in the Bilodeau family, they looked for ways to continue his legacy of service and support the community that we all loved.

They have made donations to Riverfest and the River of Lights initiative, and their largest endeavour to date was the inaugural Steve Bilodeau Memorial Golf Tournament. With the love and support of friends, family and colleagues they were able to raise $70,508.60 for the James Street Drop In-Centre supported by R.O.C.K Missions.

A total of 150 golfers took part in the inaugural tournament held on June 23, 2023 at Maple City Golf Club. The golf tournament was organized and run by Steve’s widow and children—Cheryl Bilodeau, Tyler Bilodeau, Cheryl Bilodeau, Chantelle Seton and Chelsea Lapointe, as well as a team of 30 or so family and friends who volunteered their time towards Steve’s legacy.

The Bilodeau family looks forward to many years of this event in Steve’s memory. Not only is it a wonderful day on the links, but it will allow Steve’s legacy of service to continue strongly into the future, as they have pledged $275,000 from future golf tournaments towards the Wallaceburg Legion renovation project.

A longtime member of the Wallaceburg community, he always took great pride in being from Wallaceburg, raising his family in Wallaceburg, and operating businesses here. Steve was an electrician by trade but an entrepreneur at heart. He owned and operated many businesses throughout his career including GSL Group, mPower Electric, Eternity’s Touch, and Bildco Contracting to name a few.

Steve’s passion for Wallaceburg was evident. He was proud of this community and never turned down an opportunity to help it grow, or support a community initiative. He was passionate about community events which was evident through him and his companies’ support and sponsorship over the years.

He was also the first to participate in community initiatives to support those in Wallaceburg, and the surrounding Chatham-Kent area.

A community leader, with a huge heart he was always looking for ways to give back to the community he loved, who had always shown him support.

 

2023 Co-Coaches of the Year – Tyler White and Matthew Johnston
Co-coach Tyler White

Tyler White is a lifelong resident and member of Bkejwanong First Nation. He is a husband and father of three, two daughters and a son. He is a recent graduate of Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Education and currently works as the Indigenous Graduation Coach for the Lambton Kent District School Board at Wallaceburg District Secondary School.

In 2018, after noticing a need for more coaches, Tyler became involved in Wallaceburg Lacrosse by coaching his son’s Tyke Griffins team. Each year since he has volunteered with Wallaceburg Minor Lacrosse as head coach and/or trainer. He has also volunteered as a trainer for his son’s Wallaceburg Lakers Teams, as well as serving as head coach for the Bkejwanong Ducks in the Little Native Hockey League Tournament.

In the 2022 season, he helped grow the girls lacrosse program and served as trainer for the U17 Girls team, alongside head coach Katlyn Doxtator. This team saw great success as they went on to win the 2022 U17B provincial championship.

In the 2023 season, with big shoes to fill, Tyler stepped into the role of head coach for the U17 Girls, while also coaching the U15 Boys team. The U15 Boys had a successful season, with a tournament win, and improving their provincial ranking from the previous year to earn a spot in the C division at provincials.

The U17 girls welcomed 10 players who were brand new to box lacrosse. Tyler as head coach, along with his assistant coach and trainer, worked with the girls every week at practice, keeping them motivated and eager to keep learning, even when the scoreboard was not in their favour.

The hard work paid off. The U17 Girls went on to win the U17 B Provincial Championship, going undefeated in six games. The Griffins beat Whitby 4-0 in the final game

Tyler’s coaching style is never focused on winning, rather it is centred around teaching fundamentals and a love for the game of lacrosse while respecting and honouring its Haudenosaunee origins and teachings.

Tyler is grateful and humbled to have been nominated for the Coach of the Year and attributes his success to the players that have taken to his way of teaching, playing and growing the game of lacrosse.

Matt Johnston

Born November 25, 1982 and raised by Jim and Bonnie Johnston in Port Lambton. Matt Johnston’s baseball journey began in his hometown while his grandma Shirl Johnston ran the canteen and his parents held many positions in the Port Lambton Athletic Association. Matt’s father Jim was also a local umpire chief for Wallaceburg and Port Lambton for most of my baseball career until he passed. His uncle Frank took care of the Port Lambton diamonds and still contributes to this day. So you can say the Port Lambton community and baseball are in Johnston’s blood and why he travels an hour to be part of the great baseball community in Port Lambton.

Johnston attended high school at St. Christopher’s Secondary School Sarnia and eventually OAC at WDSS while playing baseball for the Falcons and Seahawks baseball organizations based out of Courtright. This organization provided him with exposure to a high level of baseball in the United States and Canada.

Johnston graduated from Brock University with a Bachelors of Administration Honours Marketing. While attending university Matthew began playing Senior baseball, while working in St. Catharines, for Thorold.

Prior to attending university, Matthew was impacted by two coaches after joining the Wallaceburg Warriors Junior team in 2000 and 2001. Coach Brian Rosseel and Coach Don Snary left a lasting coaching impression of how a team is organized and operates. Both men were the first coaches to truly take a vested interest in his player development and the main reason he continued with the game. In 2001 under coach Rosseel and Coach Snary, the Wallaceburg Warriors Junior team were OBA champions.

Matthew took over coaching and administrative duties for the Port Lambton Pirates in 2010 as a player-coach. He also played a pivotal role in the PLAA group, with Craig Bezaire, who was successful in a bid to obtain a Trillium Grant which resulted in what we know as Vandamme Park.

In 2018, Matthew helped found a Junior team in Port Lambton to give local players from all across Western Counties a place to play Junior baseball. Here he undertook the administrative duties and was an assistant coach. Many of these Junior players graduated and stayed in the organization and were vital rostered players who contributed to the 2023 Senior championship as cornerstones of their success.

Over the past few seasons, Matthew has assumed the role of head coach for the Pirates Senior baseball team with Craig Bezaire’s help on the field.

Team Accomplishments:
6+ Time Dave Leach Memorial Tournament Champions
WCSBL League Champions 9+ Times
2010 Senior D Finalists
2011 Senior C Finalists
2016 Senior C Finalists
2017 Senior B Finalists
Multiple OBA Final Fours
2023 Dave Leach Memorial Tournament Champions
2023 Senior C Champions

Matthew currently resides in Chatham, Ontario with his wife Rebecca and three children Abigail, Lucas and Lillian. For the last few years, Matthew has been an assistant coach for the U14 Girls Wildcats basketball program and spent the last three seasons as the assistant coach for Lucas’ CMBA baseball teams.

2023 Annual Co-Outstanding Achievement – Shona Branton and Kaitlyn Isaac
Shona Branton Outstanding Achievement (Harold Martin Memorial Award) 2023

Shona Branton, born on July 30 2002, is a Port Lambton native who graduated from Wallaceburg District Secondary school in 2020.

She spent her early childhood swimming for the Wallaceburg Marlins swim team, then transitioning to the Sarnia Rapids swim team at age 12.

Shona now attends the University of Western Ontario where she is a part of their varsity swim team.

This past year, Branton competed in Luxembourg at the Luxembourg Euro Meet where she placed third in the 50 meter breaststroke. A few weeks later in the varsity season, she won two OUA golds, one of those including an OUA record. Then went on to become the U Sports champion in women’s 100 meter breaststroke, and silver medalist in the 50 meter breaststroke.

These highlights allowed her to be nominated and win, Western Female Athlete of the Year.

She ended the year by breaking the Western record in the 200 meter breaststroke, now giving her the records in the 50, 100, and 200 meter breaststroke.

Shona thanks Sue Weir, her coach at Sarnia Rapids, and Nancy Shinkelshoek, her coach at WDSS, for much of her success in high school and for supporting her while away at school. She also mentions the support received from teachers at WDSS such as Janine Day and Linda Nethery, who while they did not coach her, were a big part of their support team. Most importantly, her current coach, Paul Midgley, who has made a huge impact on her life, both in and out of the pool.

Kaitlyn Isaac Outstanding Achievement 2023

Kaitlyn Isaac, Ojibwe/Potawatomi from Walpole Island First Nation Bkejwanong Territory, finished up her hockey career at Cornell in 2023, where she performed well not only on the ice but in the classroom as well.

Isaac, who just turned 23 years old earlier this week, grew up on Walpole Island for the first 10 years of her life and then moved to Wallaceburg, where her parents currently reside.
Isaac started in gymnastics and figure skating, and eventually moved into soccer, volleyball and hockey.

She started in the Wallaceburg minor hockey organization and then played for the Chatham Outlaws girls team, then Sarnia Sting boys AAA, Chatham-Kent Cyclones boys AAA, Detroit Little Caesars, Sarnia Lady Sting and then two years with the Bluewater Junior Hawks out of Strathroy.

During Isaac’s last year of junior hockey, she played for the Etobicoke Junior Dolphins in Toronto.

Isaac traveled to Finland (2014) and Italy (2015) for world select tournaments

A member of Aboriginal Team Ontario, Isaac played in the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships for four years, from 2015-2018 (Halifax NS, Mississauga ON, Victoria BC, Sydney NS)

Isaac also played on OWHA Team Ontario in the National U18 Women’s Championship in Quebec City in November 2017. The team was a silver medalist.

Isaac also attended the Hockey Canada National Women’s U18 Team Selection Camp in Calgary, in August 2018.

Isaac attended Wallaceburg District Secondary School starting in 2015 and graduated in 2019.

While at WDSS, she was involved in many sports such as soccer, volleyball, and hockey. She earned MVP awards for soccer, hockey and volleyball and was named Walpole Island First Nation female athlete of the year in 2018.

Isaac played her first year of NCAA Division hockey in 2019-20 at Cornell University. Her next season (2020-21) was canceled due to COVID-19. Isaac then played the next two years (2021/2022 and 2022/2023) for Cornell.

Among her awards at Cornell include being a member of the 400 Club in the spring of 2020, for having a 4.0 grade point average within a given term. Isaac was also named to the all-academic team for ECAC hockey for four years (2020,2021,2022,2023). She was also a member of the Dean’s list for students with over a 3.5 grade point average (2019,2020,2021).

Cornell was the 2019/2020 season Ivy League champions and ECAC Regular Season champions and the number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

During her last season, Isaac was awarded the Kate Galada 83’ Most Improved Player award.

 

2023 Annual Award Co-Athletes – Brett Fischer and Waukiigan Shognosh
Co Athlete of the year (Eldon Griffith Memorial Award) – Waukiigan Shognosh

The year 2023 was big for Walpole Island First Nation’s Waukiigan Shognosh.
The Grade 11 Wallaceburg District Secondary School student won two national championships, was named the Wallaceburg Minor Lacrosse Association player of the year and earned his first Junior B win in net.

His play didn’t go unnoticed, as Shognosh was the second overall pick in the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League draft by the Peterborough Junior Lakers in January of this year.

A goalie, Shognosh played with the Wallaceburg Griffins Midget team last season, as well as on two Team Ontario teams.

Shognosh, who turned 17 in early February, had a double gold summer, winning gold with Team Ontario at the Canadian under-17 boys’ box championship held in Regina. He also won gold playing for a provincial under-16 team at the North American Indigenous Games in Halifax.

Shognosh, a Grade 11 student at Wallaceburg District Secondary School, has also been an affiliate player with the Wallaceburg Red Devils Junior B team the past two seasons.

Along with lacrosse, Shognosh also plays basketball, volleyball and hockey. He won the Walpole Island First Nation athlete of the year at WDSS in 2022.

As with any successful athlete, it takes a team of coaches and mentors to guide and teach someone. Some of Shognosh’s mentors and favourite coaches include: Cecil Jacobs, Evan Mathony, Darby Jacobs from the 2023 U17 Wallaceburg Griffins. Brady Campbell, Josh Sanderson, Cheryl Onofrio, from 2023 Team Ontario. As well as Brennor Jacobs, Jamie Knight, Todd Knight—all from Leave Your Mark Lacrosse.

Co Athlete of the year (Eldon Griffith Memorial Award) – Brett Fischer

Born and raised in Wallaceburg, Brett Fischer has shown leadership and tenacity in her basketball career.

In 2023, Fischer ended her university career at Western University, but embarked on a new chapter with the Lambton College women’s basketball team.

The 23 year-old Fischer went to school at St. Elizabeth Catholic School and Wallaceburg District Secondary School, then five years at Western University and is now enrolled at Lambton College in the practical nursing program.

At WDSS, Fischer was captain of the senior girls’ basketball team and MVP in her last two years. Throughout her high school career, Fischer won LKSAA and SWOSSAA titles, and competed in OFSAA from the years 2015-2017. In 2015, she was on the team that won antique bronze at OFSAA.

At Western, Fischer was a captain of the women’s basketball team in her fourth year and awarded with a Bronze W (playing on a varsity team for three years). She was also the team captain in her fifth year at Western University.

Throughout her basketball career at Western, Fischer was awarded with one 2nd Team Colour, and three 1st Team Colours (made significant contributions to the team).

For the 2021-2022 season, Brett was given the Dave Bartolotta Award, which is given to a
team member who demonstrates hard work (that often goes unrecognized) but is needed for the success of the team.

Fischer’s career statistics from Western University:
509 points (career high during game – 19 points)
387 rebounds (career high during game – 12 rebounds)
Played 1,663 minutes in a total of 70 games throughout four years
Started in every game during her final year at Western.

Currently, Brett is playing for Lambton College, where she is a captain for the Lions. She has started every game for Lambton and her career-high for points is 18 and for rebounds is 17. In her first 11 games, Fischer recorded seven double-doubles.

She was named a second-team OCAA all-star and led Lambton College to an OCAA championship and a CCCA silver medal.