Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame announces Class of 2024

The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame is set to welcome seven new inductees this year.

The Class of 2024 was announced on Tuesday.

It includes Sherry Anderson’s senior women’s curling rink and the 2003-04 University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team in the team category, Ray Mitsuing (rodeo), Carl Olson (rodeo) and Chelsea Mazzei (taekwondo) as athletes, and Karen Howard (figure skating) and Wayne Hellquist (volleyball) going in as builders.

The induction ceremony is set for Sept. 28 at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina. Tickets are $120 per person and are on sale now on the Hall of Fame’s website or by contacting the Hall of Fame at 306-780-9232.

Sherry Anderson curling rink

Formed in 2016, the rink of Anderson, third Patty Hersikorn, second Brenda Goetzen and lead Anita Silvernagle has won five Canadian senior curling titles and three senior world titles (2018-19, 2023) — both of which are records.

“You don’t really expect that (much success) when you start out. You just do it because that’s another event that you’re old enough (that) you can compete in,” Anderson said Tuesday. “It sort of just happened that we put a team together and had some success.

“It’s been a crazy ride.”

The rink, which is based out of the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon, lost its first Canadian championship but then won the next five.

The team also was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame at the 2024 Montana’s Brier in Regina.

“It’s exciting. It’s always very much an honour to be recognized for your achievement in sport, especially in the province you compete and try to represent,” Anderson said. “It was a little bit of a shock but very much appreciated.”

The rink is still curling at a high level so the Hall of Fame may have more accolades to add to its resumé.

“Nobody has thrown in the towel yet this spring. Our plan is to compete again in the fall and try to get back to the Canadians,” Anderson said. “That would be nice if they had to add something else, that’s for sure.”

Chelsea Mazzei

Mazzei became one of the top taekwondo competitors in the country, with the Regina product winning 19 consecutive national championships for her weight class in sparring. She represented Canada from 2000 through ’17.

“The one that sticks out the most was my very first world championships in 2000 because it was held, in all places, in North Korea,” Mazzei said.

“To go as a 15-year-old to North Korea, it’s not something many people will experience. In 2017 in Ireland, that was my last world championship and I won a bronze medal in sparring and it was the only medal in sparring that Canada won that year.”

She said she was honoured to be one of this year’s inductees.

“I was also very surprised. I know there’s an incredible amount of athletes and teams in Saskatchewan, so to be chosen as one of the inductees this year was a great honour,” Mazzei said.

“Sometimes it surprises myself to remember everything I have ever accomplished when you’re just focused on the next competition. It has been a really good opportunity to go back and reflect on everything I’ve done.”

She won the Canadian Taekwon-Do Federation International’s Athlete of the Year in 2002.

Mazzei also attended six World Cups and, in 2004, she won the women’s black belt sparring gold medal and earned a silver in patterns. She won a bronze in sparring in 2014. She won the Top Female Black Belt Award at the 2012 Pan-American Championships.

She competed at five Pan-American championships in total and won three golds, two silvers and a bronze medal in individual competition. She added three golds and a bronze medal as a junior competitor at the Pan-Ams.

Ray Mitsuing

A product of Loon Lake, Mitsuing competed as a chuckwagon driver for 36 years, only retiring due to a Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA) rule that forced him to do so at 65 years of age.

In 1992, he won the Aggregate Championship at the Calgary Stampede, which goes to the racer with the fastest combined time over the 10 nights of races.

He also had the fastest times at the 2012, 2015 and 2019 Stampede events.

Mitsuing qualified for the Stampede in all 36 years he competed in the event (1984-2019). He also won the CPCA championship on several occasions.

Mitsuing also served as chief of his home community, the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, for 16 years. He was appointed to the senate of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in 2017.

Carl Olson

Born in Fir Mountain, Olson made Canadian history when he became the first cowboy from the country to win a World Rodeo Championship in saddle bronc in 1947. He earned $8,765.10 for his win, which as of 2023 would be about $161,721.35.

A year later, Olson won the International Rodeo Association’s saddle bronc title.

He won the national saddle bronc championships in 1945-46 and ’48. He also added a Canadian steer wrestling title in 1948, making him the first person to win two individual events at a national rodeo championship.

Olson was also a regular competitor at the Calgary Stampede in saddle bronc and steer wrestling events.

He was inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1982. He died in 1983.

2003-04 Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team

The ’03-04 Huskies won the school’s fourth U Sports men’s volleyball title.

After losing in the U Sports semifinal the previous year, the group reached the top of the mountain during a season that saw the Huskies finish with a 21-6 record.

The Huskies were the top-ranked team at that year’s national tournament, and they didn’t drop a set to Sherbrooke or Trinity Western to advance to the final. The Huskies beat Alberta 3-2 in the final to claim the national title.

In a pre-season tournament, the Huskies defeated the Brigham Young University Cougars, who ended up winning the NCAA national title that season.

Six of the Huskies starting seven-man rotation hailed from Saskatchewan.

Wayne Hellquist

Hellquist made a number of significant contributions to volleyball in not only the province but the country as well.

The North Battleford product founded youth volleyball clubs in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and Regina and coached post-secondary players in each city at different levels. He went on to serve as president of the Saskatchewan Volleyball Association for two four-year terms.

He joined the Canadian Volleyball Association (CVA) board in 1978 and went on to serve eight years as vice-president.

He was instrumental in the Canadian women’s national team being based out of Regina through much of the 1980s.

In 1993, he was named the interim president of the Canadian Olympic Committee – the first time someone from Saskatchewan or the sport of volleyball held that role.

He helped create the para-sport program that led to Canada winning a silver medal in the men’s standing volleyball event at the Paralympic Games in 2000. He served as chef de mission for the Canadian Paralympic team for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Karen Howard

While she has reached the highest levels in the sport of figure skating, Howard has remained a builder of it in Saskatchewan.

The Melville product provides experience for skaters, officials, coaches and parents when she stops by the local rink.

Howard was a judge at the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi. She served as a judge and/or referee at three world figure skating championships and four world junior figure skating championships.

She is currently a member of the International Skating Union’s Officials Assessment Commission.

At the national level, she has been an official since 1999. She has been a judge, evaluator and referee for Skate Saskatchewan since 1981.