The first group of honoured members were inducted last Friday into Central Secondary School’s new Sports Hall of Fame.
Long-time coaches Heather Jesson and Ian Garner, student athletes Linda Garratt, Matt Reed and Shawn Smith, and two school volleyball teams -- the 1987-89 Rams girls and 1987-89 Rams boys -- comprise the Class of ‘09.
During an 18-year coaching career at Central, Jesson won 10 Huron-Perth gold medals and two WOSSAA (Western Ontario) golds. She coached basketball, gymnastics, track and field, field hockey and soccer, but is perhaps best remembered for the 10 straight H-P (1987-96) and two regional crowns (1988-89) her teams won in volleyball.
Garner’s 30-year coaching career began in 1964. There were numerous school championships along the way. He guided teams in football, basketball, cross-country, track and field, and badminton.
Garratt, Reed and Smith were recognized for their exceptional athletic achievement in their careers.
Garratt was a member of the ‘Triple Crown’ Rams girls volleyball team which became the first high school team to win three straight OFSAA titles. She went on to have tremendous success as a player at York University and as head coach at the University of Guelph.
Reed and Smith played on the Rams’ 1987 OFSAA bronze-medal team, and on the two-time OFSAA gold-medal winners (1988-89). Both went on to great careers with the University of Waterloo men’s team.
The pair were introduced at the podium by the legendary coach of those great Rams teams, Ed Price, who also coached them at Waterloo and spearheaded the drive to establish Central’s Sports Hall of Fame.