Five new members will be inducted into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame Thursday.
On Nov. 22 at 5:30 p.m. Buffy Alexander, John White, Pat McCready, Paul Papineau and Steve Toll will all have their names added to the David S. Howes St. Catharines Sports Wall of Fame during a ceremony being held at the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines.
All five inductees are athletes who excelled at the highest levels of their sports and also had a significant impact on the development of sport in the city, according to hall of fame chair Peter Partridge Jr..
“The athletes we are recognizing this year have some remarkable sporting achievements at international, national, provincial and local levels. We are proud of what they’ve accomplished and their connections to the City of St. Catharines,” said Partridge Jr., in a press release.
Alexander was an Olympic rower who competed in three different Olympic games winning a bronze medal in 2000 and won multiple world championship medals.
White founded the Niagara Junior Golf Tour in 1993 and has been a successful coach for both the men’s and women’s golf teams at Brock University. White also won the 2017 Chuck Smith Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Niagara Sport Commission.
McCready is a three-time National Lacrosse League Champion, winning the title twice with the Rochester Knighthawks, once in 1997 and once in 2012, also capturing the NLL title with the Buffalo Bandits in 2008.
He joins his father Bob McCready who was inducted into the hall of fame in 2009.
Papineau is recognized as one of the city’s best fastball/softball athletes. He was named St. Catharines Mr. Softball in 1981 and had a very successful and lengthy career.
Toll is a five-time NLL champion, and is St. Catharines’ all-time leading scorer for Jr. A lacrosse. He also has many medals in international play, including a gold medal with Team Canada’s World Field Lacrosse team.
With five new inductees, the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame will now have 172 total members.
The ceremony being held on the concourse level of the Meridian Centre is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis with no advanced registration required.