Chilliwack, BC – One of the finest teams in Chilliwack Minor Hockey history will join local coaching legend Jack Covey in the Chilliwack Sports Hall of Fame this fall.
Covey will be the first inductee in the newly-named Judy Fitzsimmons Builder category. Involved for decades in local sport, Covey is best known for his work on the gridiron. As a coach at Chilliwack secondary school in the 1960s, he led the Frontiersmen to three Fraser Valley championships. Covey was also responsible for launching the athletic program at Sardis secondary school (which was a junior high when he got things rolling).
In recent years, Covey has been the biggest advocate of junior football in Chilliwack, pounding the pavement on behalf of the BC Football Conference Valley Huskers. If not for Covey’s tireless work raising funds, the team may have ceased to exist.
“Jack was also part of the original group brought together by Judy Fitzsimmons to start the Chilliwack Sports Hall of Fame,” says CSHOF spokesman Barry Douglas. “His name is synonymous with sports in Chilliwack and I think Judy would be very proud to see him inducted in the category that now bears her name.”
Chilliwack’s 1993-94 provincial midget AAA hockey champions will come together for the first time in two decades as they celebrate induction. The team was captained by Chris Larsen. Assistant captains were Jeremy Lapeyre and Mark Knight.
The Dereks, Cranfield and England, formed an unbeatable goalie tandem. They backstopped a roster that also included Jim McCarron, Shane Stoneson, Mike Pfeifer, Aaron Hoggan, Kyle Murphy, Chad Martz, Brandon Tournier, Jody Lapeyre, Nigel Perras, Ian Clark, Trevor Schulz, Kelly English and Dean Goodey.
They were coached by Neil Murphy and Marny Pfeifer and managed by Don Clark.
Chilliwack went 5-0 at provincials that year, capturing the title with a 7-1 drubbing of Cowichan.
“Many of these men still live in Chilliwack and it’s always great to hear them reminisce about that team and that championship,” Douglas said. “We hope they come together once more on induction night and have a very special reunion.”
This year’s induction night is Nov. 14. A special reception will be held at the Chilliwack Museum for the inductees and their families. The official induction ceremony will be held during the intermission of that night’s Chilliwack Chiefs game against Prince George.
“It was a special experience seeing the 1968 3-Field boys reunited last year and from what I’m hearing the guys from the 1993-94 team are just as excited to see each other again,” Douglas says. “We hope Chilliwackians will come to the arena and share in their experience on induction night.”
The soon-to-be-expanded CSHOF display is located on the concourse at Prospera Centre.
