Two people with New Westminster ties were honoured last week at the 2017 B.C. Sports Hall of Fame banquet in Vancouver.
New West native Dave Sidoo and one-time Douglas College coach and instructor Tim Frick were part of the Class of 2017, people inducted or honoured for their contribution to sports in B.C.
Frick was inducted into the coach/builder category for his role as a pioneer in wheelchair sports. Frick directed the Canadian team to four world championship titles and also gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Paralympics.
As a friend, coach and motivator, Frick accompanied Rick Hansen on his Man in Motion world tour.
During much of the 1990s, Frick was based at New Westminster’s Douglas College, serving as a coach and instructor in the physical education program.
A seven-time recipient of the Coaching Excellence Award, Frick was earlier inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame and the Wheelchair Basketball Canada Hall of Fame.
Sidoo, meanwhile, received the W.A.C. Bennett Achievement Award, honouring his contributions to sport, and specifically to football at his alma mater, the University of B.C.
A veteran of six seasons in the Canadian Football League with B.C. and Saskatchewan, Sidoo captained his UBC Thunderbirds team to a Vanier Cup title in 1982, and was a prominent force over the past few years to ensure the program overcame some turbulent times.
His 13th Man Foundation became a centre of support for the football team, bringing in numerous alumni
The first Indo-Canadian player in the CFL, Sidoo went on to build a successful business career after
football and has used that success with philanthropic interests in the community with the charity Sidoo Family Giving.
Among the others inducted last week were the B.C. Lions’ Geroy Simon, hockey’s Mark Recchi, rugby’s Mark Wyatt, Paralympian Michelle Stilwell, equestrian couple George and Dianne Tidball, former UBC coach Frank Smith, mountain biker Roland Green, taekwon-do’s Chang Keun Choi and the UBC Thunderettes 1969-70 basketball team.
