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Two Surrey women win BC Sports Hall of Fame awards for inspired service

Jane Blaine and Wendy Pattenden recognized during virtual summit
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BC Sports Hall of Fame logo.

Two Surrey-area women are among six winners of BC Sports Hall of Fame awards for 2020.

Jane Blaine, executive director of BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association, and Wendy Pattenden, CEO of Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, were named Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Award winners during a virtual Annual Summit hosted by BC Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 18.

The awards, which recognize “inspired service in and to sport in B.C.,” are given in partnership with the BC Sports Hall of Fame Foundation.

Pattenden, in her role with CSIP since 1999, is a former top 100-ranked professional tennis player and 12-time national tennis champion. She has brought to life “a strategic direction designed to mobilize the sport science, sport medicine, coaching & life services experts delivering leading-edge programs to athletes and coaches to ensure they have every advantage to win medals for Canada,” according to a bio posted to csipacific.ca.

Blaine works with the Vancouver-based BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association, which was first created in 1975 in order to send B.C. athletes to the 1976 national championships and selection trials for the Olympics for the Physically Disabled (now called the Paralympics) in Toronto.

The four other award winners are New Westminster resident MJ Abbot (former executive director of Canoe Kayak BC), North Vancouver residents Scott Braley (CEO of Curl BC) and Brian McCalder (CEO of BC Athletics), and Victoria’s Margo Ross (former executive director of BC Sport Branch).

The virtual summit, originally scheduled to take place in Kelowna but moved online due to COVID-19, celebrated the 125th anniversary of curling in British Columbia.

The BC Sports Hall of Fame piloted its new Annual Summit concept last year in New Westminster, partnering with the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and BC Lacrosse.

“Community outreach throughout British Columbia is one of the most important strategic priorities of the BC Sports Hall of Fame,” said Tom Mayenknecht, chair of the BC Sports Hall. “It is of the utmost importance for us to be moving the Summit across the province to engage the multiple communities that have produced so many inspiring athletes, coaches, administrators, media and others.”

BC Sports Hall of Fame, located at BC Place Stadium, features a new “Sport Fashion” exhibit of 60 pieces spanning over a century. Highlights include a basketball shoe collection, a Canadian marching uniform with regal flowing cape and red leather jumpsuit circa Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ era.

The hall is now open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To book tickets and admission times, visit bcsportshall.ticketspice.com/admissions.



Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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