1998 Inductees

While a great athlete in sports such as curling and golf, Gloria Hayden will be most remembered for her contributions to a variety of sports in the Yorkton area. Gloria acted as coach and manager of the Yorkton Ladies Volleyball Club from 1970 to 1972, and was instrumental in establishing the Yorkton Pepsis, a ladies' softball team that became one of the best in Saskatchewan. In 1976 and 1977, Gloria sat on the Deer Park Ladies Golf Club executive and played a major role in organizing events. 

Instrumental in developing the junior curling program at the Yorkton Regional High School, Gloria coached the high school team to provincial championship competitionss. She became actively involved in the Yorkton Ladies Curling Club, acting as president in 1978 and 1979, and participating on many different committees from 1975 to 1988. 

Gloria helped organize the Senior Games and Special Olympic track meets in Yorkton, and volunteered in many capacities for both events. Gloria's work in promoting sport in Yorkton didn't stop there. She initiated and developed both the Ladies Fitness and Ladies Aquatics programs, acting as a sponsor and administrator for both groups. She chaired the City of Yorkton's Recreation, Parks and Cultural Board from 1985 to 1988, encompassing the needs of the community. Gloria's dream was the establishment of a multi-purpose sports and leisure facillty for Yorkton. In the fall of 1998, the Gloria Hayden Community Center allowed her memory and dedication to sport in Yorkton to live on. 

Margaret Homenuik (nee Kiggins) has been involved in a variety of sports in the Yorkton area, including curling and figure skating, but she is probably best known for her success in the sport of golf. Marg's golf career spanned 18 years and resulted in local, provincial and national competition wins. Marg has won numerous tournaments, and has been a seven time winner of the city and district championships. 

Highlights in Marg's golf career include being a member of Manitoba's only NCTC championship team in 1962, being an 11-time Manitoba provincial team member, and winning the Manitoba amateur championships a record six times. During her golf career Marg participated in 17 provincial team trials, and she was selected for 14 provincial teams. She was club champion at Rossmere for 11 years and at Elmhurst for three years.  

Stan "Topper" Homenuik, like his brothers Ted and Wilfred, has had an illustrious golf career. Stan has competed on a local, provincial, national and international level, winning many championships in each category. Stan has won all tournaments in the Yorkton area at one point in time or another, and has won many competitions throughout the province, including the Saskatchewan Open and the Clear Lake Open. 

He won the Saskatchewan Juvenile golf championship and was a member of the Saskatchewan Willington Cup team before achieving national and international success. Stan competed numerous times in the Canadian Open, and was the 1961 low amateur. In 1970 Stan qualified as a Carling World Competitor by winning the Alberta Open. Stan won the Manitoba division of Crown Life twice, has won the western interprovincial division once, and has represented the national division once. Internationally Stan played on the Asian tour and the Caribbean tour. In 1985, Stan was named the CPGA of Manitoba Player of the Year. 

Ted's golf career in Manitoba covered 21 years, from 1957 to 1977. Prior to his outstanding achievements in our neighboring province, Ted has had great accomplishments in local tournaments, including capturing the coveted Lexier trophy at Deer Park Golf Course. Ted also performed at a provincial level. In 1953, he was the Saskatchewan junior champion and the Saskatchewan amateur championship runner-up. 

He was named the Manitoba Athlete of the Year in 1961 and that same year was runner-up in the Manitoba Open. For six years, Ted was either winner or runner-up in the Manitoba amateur championship, and he was a record 13-time member of Manitoba's Willingdon Cup provincial team. On the national level, Ted was runner-up in the Canadian Junior Golf Championships in 1953, and was runner-up in the Canadian Amateur Golf Championships in 1957 and 1961. Ted was low amateur in the Canadian Open in 1961, and was a member of Manitoba's first championship team in the Willingdon Cup national competition in 1974. 

Internationally, Ted was a team member in the Americas Golf Cup matches held in Monterrey, Mexico, qualified as second alternate for the Americas Golf Cup matches held in Des Moines, Iowa, and has qualified as third alternate for the Commonwealth matches held in Sidney, Australia. Ted was a regular competitor in the Mundie Putter League, was a member of several interclub championship teams, and was named golf champion at Rossmere and Elmhurst Golf and Country Clubs in Winnipeg. Ted retired from competitive golf as the Manitoba amateur champion in the fall of 1977 at the age of 43. 

Wilf of the famous golfing Homenuik family achieved great success in the sport, winning numerous tournaments at local, provincial, national and international levels. Winning on tours included victories in Fort William ON, Kingston ON, Peru, Panama and West Palm Beach, Wilfred demonstrated his talent time and again. 

As a junior in golf, Wilfred was runner-up for the Saskatchewan provincials for three years and the winner in 1954. That year he was also runner-up in the Canadian championship, narrowly missing the  title. Wilfred won many amateur competitions several times, including the York Lake Open, the Melville Open and the Dauphin open. 

From 1959 to 1972, Wilfred was either a winner or runner-up in provincial open championships in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta a total of 11 times, was winner of the Canadian Professional Golfers Association championship twice, and won the Canadian Professional Championship for the Miller Trophy twice. Wilfred was a member of the Canadian World Cup Team in 1965 and 1971, and has held many professional positions in Manitoba and Ontario. 

Gerry James achieved excellence in football and hockey, both as an athlete and as a coach. Gerry played football for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for many years after having been signed at the age of 17. During his football career Gerry won the Schenley Award as the top Canadian player and participated in many Grey Cup games. 

Alternating between two sports major league sports, Gerry also played hockey for the Toronto Maple Leafs. From 1964 to 1977 Gerry spent much of his time playing for and coaching the Yorkton Terrier senior hockey team, and he owned, managed and coached the junior franchise in Yorkton from 1979 to 1984. Yorkton's 1982 Sportsman of the Year, Gerry continued his coaching career in Estevan and Melville, as well as in Weyburn and in Nanaimo, B.C. where he coached the Special Olympics floor hockey teams. 

He was a running back in the CFL with the Blue Bombers as well as a right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played 149 games in the NHL and had 40 points over his career. In the CFL he totaled 995 rushes and scored 645 points on 63 touchdowns, 143 converts, 40 field goals and 21 singles. He was the scoring leader in the CFL in 1957 and in the Western division in 1960, and was a four-time Grey Cup champion. 

Gerry's long list of accomplishments include his inductions into the Football Hall of Fame, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame, and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. 

Gus Laube was president and commissioner of the Garry Baseball League for 14 years. Because of his great contributions to the sport, Gus was awarded with a life membership in the Garry League. Always ready and willing to lend a hand to the baseball team in Springside, Gus was affectionately nicknamed Casey Stengel by the Stenen baseball team whenever he made an appearance in a baseball park. 

In 1965 he was presented with a plaque acknowledging his tremendous contribution to local baseball. In 1997 Gus was inducted in the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame. Gus has been quoted as saying, "As far as I am concerned, baseball is more than just a game. It is a sport that has done much to create good feeling among the cities and towns in this part of Saskatchewan and has helped us come closer together as friends and neighbors." 

Gus remained involved in baseball from 1944 until his death in 1980 at the age of 80. 

As both an athlete and builder, Donn Laube has played a major role in baseball and curling in the Yorkton area. In 1948 at the age of 15, Donn began his baseball career pitching and playing short stop for the Springside Beavers in the Garry League. While Donn was an outstanding fielder, his major strength was at the plate, revealing power and consistency in his batting strategy. Always in demand, Donn played for many different teams and in many different tournaments in surrounding communities. 

Donn, like his brother Merv, was invited by the Winnipeg Baseball Club to attend their Albany, Georgia training camp as a prospect for professional baseball in 1954. A regular on the Garry League all-star team, Donn was awarded the Abel Cup as the Most Valuable Player in the Garry League. In 1964, Donn was awarded the Heinie Rodgers Memorial Trophy for MVP in the South Saskatchewan Baseball League. Because of his outstanding athletic ability, he was the only member of the Yorkton Cardinals to be elected for the first team of the Southern Baseball League all stars in 1969. 

Donn coached and managed baseball from sandlot to senior levels for over 20 years. His goal was to create good sportsmanship and teach proper baseball techniques. Donn was always generous in imparting knowledge and in sharing his ability with others. In 1997, Donn was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Merv has been involved in numerous sports throughout his lifetime, including baseball, curling, track and field and hockey. For over 50 years Merv was a major contributor to baseball, both as an athlete and as a builder. Excelling in the ability to hit, run and throw, Merv displayed leadership throughout his career with a positive attitude and desire to win. At the age of 16, Merv won the Most Valuable Player and Sportsmanship trophy of the Garry League jointly with Jack Sharp of Yorkton. A year later, Merv recorded 20 consecutive scoreless innings as a pitcher in the Garry League. 

In 1948 and 1949, Merv was hired to play for the Grandview Maroons in semi-professional baseball. While his pitching career ended at 21, his tremendous speed and agility allowed Merv to enjoy a successful career as an infielder. This, in addition to his great batting power made him a five-time Garry League All-Star. In 1954 Merv received an invitation from the Winnipeg Baseball Club Ltd to attend their training camp in Albany, Georgia as a prospect for professional baseball. 

Merv organized minor league baseball in Springside in the early 1950s and was instrumental in forming a league with Yorkton. He was playing manager for Springside, for the Springside-Theodore Combines and for the Melville Millionaires, who he led to win the pennant in the Southern League in 1964. Because of his role in organizing intramural baseball at the Yorkton Regional High School he was awarded the Colonel Raider Award. When he wasn't on the field playing, Merv kept busy maintaining baseball diamonds, scouting baseball players, arranging league games and tournaments, supplying transportation, and fundraising to keep minor and senior baseball alive. Merv was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. 

Ed Magis, Yorkton's Mr. Football, has contributed much to high school football in Yorkton. Ed has volunteered thousands of hours over the years so that young men could pursue the game. In his first year as coach at the Yorkton Collegiate Institute, Ed led the team to the six-man provincial championship. Ed led the Yorkton team to four more provincial titles, making him the only high school football coach in the province to win titles in six-man, eight-man, and 12-man competition. 

Ed also assisted the football program at Sacred Heart High School and was instrumental in forming a Minor Flag Football League in Yorkton. When he retired from his teaching career in 1991, Ed gave up his position as head football coach at the Yorkton Regional High School but continued to act as an assistant coach until the end of the 1996 season. 

Because of his dedication to the sport, Ed was appointed coach of the Saskatchewan High School Football All Stars three times, and was honored by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1987 for his contribution to minor football in the province. Ed's love of the sport is evident in the many activities in which he became involved, including the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Association, the Saskatchewan Pass Punt Kick Competition, and the Yorkton Minor Sports Association. 

Sherril Roberts has achieved great success in a variety of sports, including track and field, basketball, softball, field hockey and badminton. Competing at local, provincial, national and international levels, Sherril has claimed many championships both as an independent athlete and as a team member. 

She has represented her province and country in track and field, cross country, and basketball. The many awards won and records broken reveal Sherril's athleticism and her determination to win. Sherril also shared her love of different sports with others and contributed to these sports by coaching cross-country, volleyball, basketball, badminton and track and field at the high school level, as well as junior softball in Yorkton. She was inducted into the University of Saskatchewan's Wall of Fame in 1994. 

Steve, better known to sports fans as Yaho, Stevie, Ajax and Joger had an illustrious baseball and basketball career in Yorkton. While playing basketball for the Yorkton Collegiate and the Blackstone  Bombers, Steve was the leading scorer many years. He also helped the Yorkton Collegiate win the provincial basketball title in 1937. 

During the 1940s and 1950s Steve played baseball in Yorkton, winning the Saskatchewan provincial championships while playing short-stop for the Yorkton All-Star Softball Team in 1940. Steve proved to be a versatile player, revealing his many athletic abilities by playing short-stop, first base and pitcher for the Yorkton Cardinals senior baseball team from 1939 to 1952. In 1944, Steve had the opportunity to play short-stop with the Victoria Machining Depot in the semi-professional league. 

Steve participated in many  tournaments during the 1940s and 1950s and played against well-known players like Satchel Paige who played in the majors, the Bentley brothers from Delisle, and the Metz brothers from Wilcox, among many others.