Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame celebrates 60 years with new exhibit

The Sask. Sports Hall of Fame unveils “60 Years of Saskatchewan Sport,” showcasing athletes, artifacts, photos and videos celebrating provincial sports history.

In celebration of its 60th anniversary, the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (SSHF) revealed a new exhibit to outline some of its history.

“We tried to pick out some of the high-level highlights, which is always a little bit tricky when there’s so many great Saskatchewan sports stories,” said Matthew Gourlie, the communications coordinator with the SSHF. “The timeline does sort of show some of those key moments, whether it’s a first World Series appearance, the first Stanley Cup winner, first Olympian or other iconic teams.”

Curated by Robyn Jensen, the exhibit will be displayed for the next calendar year.

The SSHF wanted to highlight athletes like Patricia Lawson, who won provincial titles in multiple sports such as tennis, track and field, speed skating, swimming and basketball.

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“If she was alive in a different era, she might have been an Olympian in multiple sports,” said Gourlie. “She should have been an Olympian in speedskating, but women weren’t allowed to speed skate in the Olympics at the time.”

Lawson became Canadian intermediate ladies champion in 1947, and Canadian senior ladies champion in 1940 and 1954, according to the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Women didn’t participate in speedskating at the winter Olympics until 1960.

Of the many athletes displayed in the exhibit, Gourlie also highlighted Alex Decoteau, the first Saskatchewan Olympian, the province’s first Indigenous police officer, and a veteran of the First World War.

“I don’t think that’s a story that people necessarily know,” Gourlie noted. “He had a great career, a pioneering career.”

Gourlie said that the exhibit took 3-4 months of planning, with Jamie and Graeme Zirk working with the SSHF to create the design layout. Graeme also designed the 60th anniversary logo.