Former national team stars headed for UVic Sports Hall

Two former Canadian national team athletes, Sara Brant (née Ballantyne) and Lori Clarke, will enter the University of Victoria Sports Hall of Fame with the Class of 2019.

Also part of the class is builder Mike Holmes.

Brant established the standard on the UVic field-hockey pitch as a member of the first Vikes team to win the national championship during her career from 1982 to 1987. The Olympian was named all-Canada West in each of her five seasons. The Mount Douglas Secondary graduate was all-Canadian in her final two seasons only because that designation was only inaugurated and 1986 and did not exist in her first three seasons. An outstanding and tough tackler in her own zone, with an effective outlet pass, the defender Brant was named to the CIAU national championship tournament five times.

Internationally, Brant helped lead Canada to bronze medals in the 1986 World Cup and 1987 Pan American Games and to sixth place in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She is still active in the Island league.

Brant becomes the eighth UVic field-hockey player, and sixth Olympian among that group, to be inducted. She joins fellow-Olympians Lynne Beecroft, Rochelle Low, Deb Whitten, Milena Gaiga and Nancy Mollenhauer (née Charlton) along with Laurelee Kopeck and Jan Crook.

Clarke, meanwhile, was a silky yet stern force in the middle for UVic on the basketball court in leading Canada West in rebounding in all her three seasons. The native of Abbotsford won national championships with Kathy Shields’ powerhouse Vikes teams in 1985 and 1987 and made it to the national championship game in 1986 after transferring from the University of Eastern Washington.

Clarke went on to lead Canada to the bronze medal at the 1986 world championship, still the highest placing ever for Canada in women’s hoops internationally, and captained Canada to seventh place at the 1990 world championship.

She cut a path for women in her sport by becoming one of the first Canadians to play pro in Europe with a career in Germany from 1989 to 1996.

“Lori was pretty much automatic in the lane,” said Shields.

“She had a nose for the basket, great timing and a quick second jump.”

Combined with a true passion for the game.

“Lori simply loved to play and practice and was a pleasure to coach,” said Shields.

Clarke becomes the fourth women’s basketball athlete inducted into the UVic hall and joins Olympians Carol Turney-Loos and Tracie Sibbald (née McAra) with Luanne Krawetz (née Hebb).

Holmes, meanwhile, played rugby for the Vikes from 1982 to 1987 and advanced to provincial and national levels. But it is behind the scenes where he has made the most impact in the sport. Holmes, an attorney who graduated from UVic law school, inaugurated a drive with the goal to raise nearly $800,000 for the Vikes men’s rugby program and initiated a drive to help fund assistant coaches. Holmes has also initiated a tour fund to help future Vikes rugby teams travel overseas to gain international club experience, and also a scholarship that has already exceeded $120,000, to help fund male or female Vikes rugby players who are studying in UVic law school.

Holmes also helped establish and is the executive director of the non-profit Canadian Rugby Foundation, which has raised more than $2 million to help develop youth rugby programs across Canada and which also helped establish the Canadian university rugby championship.

“Mike’s humble approach and philanthropic work to support UVic has been significant and critical to our efforts to attract and support top students,” said UVic athletic director Clint Hamilton.

The 17th annual induction ceremonies will take place April 5 at the Victoria Conference Centre as part of the UVic sports awards banquet.