OFFICIAL HONOURS
Carter in hall of fame class
Whether as a player, a coach or an official, basketball talent dominated the 2018 class of inductees to the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame like a slam dunk. This year’s honourees were announced Wednesday near the Hall of Fame display at the Windsor International Aquatics and Training Centre.
Former Sandwich secondary school star Richard Shaw is being inducted as an athlete while highschool coaching legend Domenic Silvaggio and respected referee Paul Carter headline the builder’s category.
The University of Windsor Women’s basketball teams from 2011-2015, described by the hall’s chairman of the board Scott Martyn as a “hoops juggernaut,” will also be inducted in the team category for their record-tying tenure as five-time national champs. Rounding out the class of 2018 is golfer Cheryll Damphouse, boxer Mary Spencer, hockey’s Andy Delmore, wrestling’s Don Marrin, thoroughbred horse racing ’s J. Paul Reddam and the Tecumseh Baseball Club.
Silvaggio coached high-school boys and girls basketball for 34 years, most with General Amherst where his girls’ team won 26 WECSSAA or ECSSAA titles, 13 SWOSSAA championships and five OFSAA championships. “He has a good basketball mind,” said Carter, who officiated countless games with Silvaggio on the sidelines.
“He was one of the few coaches who knew the rules and could quote something and be right. You had to be on your game with him.” Carter has been blowing his whistle at the local, provincial and national level for more than 40 years.
He has officiated at numerous OFSAA championships, junior nationals, OUA and CIS championships and Canadian college championships.
“When he walked in the gym, you knew you were going to get a well officiated game,” Silvaggio said. “You might not agree with all the calls, but he’s going to be in the right place at the right time to make the call.”
Jamie Kell and Rob Murphy were also on hand for Wednesday ’s announcement, representing Tecumseh Baseball.
“This is recognition for everyone now and everyone before us,” Kell said. “Whether you are a board member, a player or a coach, we can all feel a part of this.” Tecumseh Baseball is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The club’s founder, Bert Lacasse, was a 1987 Hall of Fame inductee. All told, Tecumseh baseball teams have been crowned provincial champions 19 times and national champs five times. Among her many accolades, Damphouse won the 1989 Canadian Ladies’ Amateur championship, and she took two Ontario match-play titles. The Amherstburg native was a member of Ontario’s provincial team five times, and she’s a two-time member of the Ontario senior team. Delmore, a LaSalle native, played 283 games in the National Hockey League for four teams in Philadelphia, Nashville, Buffalo and Columbus. An offensive defenceman, Delmore tied Sergei Gonchar and Nicklas Lidstrom for most goals with 18 during the 2002-03 NHL season.
At six-foot-10, Shaw loomed large on the local courts, averaging 28.5 points per game, 15.4 rebounds per game and 6.3 blocks per game in the 1993-94 season where he led the Sabres to their first OFSAA championship in school history. He went on to play on scholarship for Marquette University and for the Canadian senior team that won a Jones Cup. Not just a one-sport star, Shaw was a twice-drafted pitcher by Major League Baseball teams. Spencer is a two-time world champion who trained under Charlie Stewart at the Windsor Amateur Boxing Club. She represented Canada at the 2012 Olympics, and her overall record in the ring is an impressive 118-8. Reddam was born in Windsor where his love of horse racing began at Windsor Raceway. Now a California-based businessman, he has developed and owned two Kentucky Derby winners in I’ll Have Another and Nyqvist. Marrin has an award named after him by the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association honouring a national level referee with at least 20 years of service. He has also been inducted into the CAWA’s Hall of Fame. He achieved the highest international ranking possible for a wrestling official, and over the course of his career, he officiated at the Olympics, the Pan American Games and the Commonwealth Games.
The induction ceremony is slated for Oct. 19 at Central Park Athletics.