A photo of the current Hall of Fame members with the Class of 2022 inductees and representatives. Front and centre is Murray Christison. To the left of Murray is Tim Mallory representing Leslie Freeman. To the right of Murray is Patrick Richardson. Penny Glover was not present.
On April 28th the Granite Club in Toronto hosted the Ontario Squash Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for the Class of 2022 inductees - Murray Christison, Leslie Freeman, Penny Glover and Pat Richardson. Squash friends and families came from many parts of the province to celebrate this special event so happy to be able to attend a function after the last two years of the pandemic which has affected us all in so many ways.
The event was held in the magnificent Granite Club ballroom, a wonderful backdrop for an evening of renewing old friendships, sharing memories and celebrating the game we all love so much. The ballroom was full and buzzing with energy as guests arrived and enjoyed the initial reception before being seated for dinner and the Induction Ceremony.
The Induction Ceremony was opened with current members of the Hall being piped in by Ian Goodtimes with the emotional, awesome and haunting skirl of the bagpipes. We were delighted so many members could join us.
Regretfully, since the last induction in 2019, we lost 3 members, - Susan Swift and Jack Fairs who were inducted in 2005 and Ernie Howard who was inducted in 2007. Their presence was missed.
Ian Goodtimes then piped in the Inductees who were introduced to all in attendance. The qualities outstanding and exceptional are key criteria for selection to the Hall of Fame, which has a prestigious membership and in which it is an honour to belong. All of the inductees had unique and exceptional talents and achievements that they brought to the squash community and are all very worthy inductees to the Hall of Fame
The Ontario Squash Hall of Fame was created in 2005 by Squash Ontario and is managed by an Independent Board of Governors who are responsible for the selection of the inductees who must be nominated following strict criteria for eligibility for membership in the Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame has continued to maintain a close partnership with Squash Ontario and who provide administrative assistance particularly in the year of induction. This year was no exception and we’re very grateful to Lynsey Yates and Lauren Sachvie for their tremendous support.
The physical Ontario Squash Hall of Fame is located at The Club at White Oaks in Niagara-on-the Lake, a tremendous partner and supporter of the Hall. So worth a visit that all squash enthusiasts should have it on their bucket list.
There are two categories of eligibility to the Hall: Builder and Player and subcategories of each. In 2022, we welcomed Murray Christison as a Builder, Leslie Freeman as a Player/Volunteer, Penny Glover as a Player/Referee and Pat Richardson as a Builder/Coach
Peter Hall was the Master of Ceremonies for the Inductions – he is well known to the squash Community, a Member of the HOF and the Board of Governors. He did an excellent job making the evening a great success.
The Inductions took place during dinner between courses. All were introduced by Peter and then Inductees spoke and the award then presented.
About the inductees:
Murray Christison had an all encompassing vison to build, and build and build he did four magnificent squash clubs in Toronto. He wanted to grow the game of squash at the grassroots level. At the same time, he dreamed of bringing world squash to Toronto which he did many times. Seeing the best in the world was a great incentive for our players to see how they did against them. All of this helped grow the game and squash boomed.
Leslie Freeman’s skill on the doubles court brought her 22 Ontario, 18, Canadian, 1 US and 3 World Championship titles. She was also a committed National Doubles referee and was instrumental in growing the women’s doubles game as the co-founder and Convenor of the Toronto Ladies Doubles T&D league.
Penny Glover excelled both on and off court, capturing 6 Ontario Closed, and 2 Ontario Open singles titles, represented Canada 4 times. Won 2 Canadian 40+ and 2 Canadian 45+ titles. She then turned her love of the game to refereeing. She played an important part in the development of Squash Canada’s refereeing program in the late 1970’s. She is an AI national level referee, instructor and assessor. She’s refereed at countless local, provincial and national tournaments, Canada Games, PanAm Championships and invited to referee at many major international events including 3 women’s world championships and 1 junior world championships. Until the pandemic, hadn’t missed a Canadian Junior Open or National Championships in 15yr. There was never a club too far for her to go to and deliver a rules clinic.
Pat Richardson built robust junior programs at Montreal and Toronto Cricket, Curling and Skating Club. Many of his players competed at the national level, champions among them and many are still playing. He received many awards for his coaching. His success as a coach was matched by his skill as a tournament organizer for many Canadian and World Doubles Championships which were managed extremely well. He is a long member of Ontario’s and Squash Canada’s Doubles Committee
The evening was a great success. We were also very fortunate to have Josh Ginou, of Canadian Streams, who streamed the whole evening. This had not been done before and gave many squash enthusiasts, who weren’t able to buy tickets to the sold out event, the opportunity to watch the proceedings. A special thanks as well to Jim Paton for his video expertise.
All in all, it was a terrific evening filled with so much goodwill – just as one expects when a squash group get together, the pandemic hadn’t changed that one bit!
Our next Induction Ceremony will be in 2024 – we hope to see you there.