Working from a list of 100 individuals and teams this past year, the Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee is pleased to announce the five individuals, along with the second-ever Norm Mayer Dynasty recipient, who will be inducted on Tuesday, June 11, 2024 at the Caruso Club.

The Class of 2024 features:

Dale Beausoleil: Coach – Volleyball
The man at the helm of the Cambrian College Golden Shield women’s volleyball team for over 35 years, Beausoleil has enjoyed success at every single level that he has coached.

A three-time OCAA champion (Ontario Colleges Athletic Association) – along with four silver and four bronze medals – on the women’s side, Beausoleil added the Cambrian men to his portfolio in 2021. He then led the men’s team to back-to-back bronze medals at provincials in 2023 and 2024.

In 2022, he became the first coach ever to receive OCAA Coach of the Year honours in both men’s and women’s volleyball — in the same year!

Working with the Lasalle Lancers boys’ team for the past decade, Beausoleil has added a pair of OFSAA championships to his resume. He has also added dozens of championships titles at the elementary school level as well.

Dave St Amour: Athlete – Football
An 18-time all-star in the Northern Football Conference, Sudbury Spartans receiver / running back / slotback / return specialist was inducted into the NFC Hall of Fame in 2003. St Amour played in the league for 22 years, was twice named as the MVP of the circuit and still holds league receiving records (314 receptions for 5,139 yards – 61 TDs) and kickoff return records (185 returns for 4,017 yards).

St Amour remains active these days as an elite CrossFit competitor, having advanced to age group levels that pit the long-time educator against some of the very best CrossFit athletes in the world.

Troy Mallette: Athlete - Hockey
A veteran of 456 NHL games split between six different teams, Mallette finished his career with 119 points, including 51 goals. At that level, he was certainly known for his more physical game (1,226 penalty minutes), making it easy to forget at times that the player who developed with the Onaping Falls Huskies in his minor hockey career was also the first overall selection in the 1986 OHL draft.

Mallette would register 169 points in 191 junior games with the Soo Greyhounds, earning a second round selection (22nd overall – 1988 NHL Draft) to the New York Rangers. At just 28 years of age, he would retire from hockey due to neck and back injuries. He returned to Windy Lake and occasionally coached in the local AAA ranks as his son, Trent, also made his way to the OHL.

Bob Chaperon: Athlete – Billiards / Snooker
A Sudbury native who was first introduced to his sport at New City Billiards on Elm Street, Chaperon would claim the Canadian championship in 1981 – and then again in 2019. He would move overseas in 1984, competing on the professional circuit, primarily in the United Kingdom, until 1995.

It was right in the middle of that stretch that Chaperon rose to international prominence in snooker, becoming the only Canadian to ever capture the British Open (1991), a championship run which included a perfect score game. A year earlier, he had teamed up with Cliff Thorburn and Alain Robidoux in leading Canada to a World Cup title, one of only two occasions where this country would prevail.

Louise Sheridan: Athlete - Golf
Though she did not pick up the sport until her mid-30s, Sheridan would go on to become the second most decorated female golfer in the history of our city, behind only the legendary Phyllis Crang (Hall of Fame inductee – 1981).

A 17-time Idylwylde Ladies Club champion, Sheridan trails only Crang (18) in that honour, the duo also dominating the plaque of the Idylwylde Ladies Invitational – Crang – 15 wins; Sheridan – 10 wins. A native of Pembroke, Sheridan moved to Sudbury in 1979 to attend Laurentian University where she studied physical education and competed as a member of the varsity women’s field hockey team.

Sudbury Canoe Club: Norm Mayer Dynasty Award
First established in 1901, the Sudbury Canoe Club is known for far more than simply its longevity and the wide scope of water sport offerings it has enjoyed. During the 1950s and 1960s, the club produced a string of national calibre paddlers, including the likes of Joe Derochie, Don Stringer, John Beedell and Lou Loukanovich, all of whom competed at the Olympics.

In the early 2000s, the club introduced dragon boating to the region and before long – and thanks largely to the work of Team Chiro, Sudbury was again a force to be reckoned with on the water on the international scene.

Following years of hosting paddlers along the shoreline of Ramsey Lake that abuts Bell Park, the Sudbury Canoe Club partnered with the Greater City of Sudbury to unveil the Northern Water Sports Centre on the southern shore of the lake in May of 2016.

As noted at the outset, the 53rd Annual Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame Dinner will take place on Tuesday, June 11th, 2024 in the upstairs hall of the Caruso Club. Tickets can be obtained by contacting either Randy Pascal (705-698-1627; info@sudburysports.com) or Joe Drago (705-207-3475).

Tickets are being sold for $65 per person, with tickets for children under 12 priced at $25/each.