OQUITLAM, BC – The 2012 Class of Inductees into the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame represent a variety of sports and accomplishments. The one unifying factor is that each of these honourees represented Coquitlam with distinction. On Thursday, June 21, 2012 at the Poirier Sports Centre, the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame will welcome the following new members in the Athlete/Team category:

ATHLETE/TEAM

Gail Harvey Moore had established an impressive golfing resume by the age of 15, when she won the first of three straight Canadian junior championship titles. In 1961, Harvey Moore placed second at both the Canadian Ladies Amateur and Canadian Closed championship. She also represented Canada in a number of international competitions. A near-fatal car crash in 1969 slowed Harvey Moore down, but didn’t stop her. She recovered to win both the B.C. and Canadian Amateur women’s titles in 1970. She passed away in 1993.

As a student at then Como Lake High School, Neil Godin brought home a handful of medals from successive Canadian Senior Gymnastics championships in gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling. His feats on the trampoline began to attract attention in Maillardville when Our Lady of Lourdes gym team was established in 1950. Starting as a 12-year-old at the 1954 nationals, he won a number of national titles, while recorded a couple of Canadian firsts – including the first Canadian to perform the triple-twisting back somersault. He qualified for the Pan Am Games. Godin would later coach the national team.

Norm McLeod was a member of Canada’s first-ever World Cup soccer team, scoring the nation’s first goal in the tournament. As an 18-year-old, he was a member of the national team that toured the Soviet Union in 1960. McLeod, who played four times for Canada, was also a dominating force on the provincial soccer scene. As a member of the B.C. All-Star team, McLeod put the provincial squad on the map – including a vaunted win over touring Tottenham Hotspur. He was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005, as well as the B.C. Softball Hall of Fame.

The 2001 Coquitlam Adanacs achieved the ultimate in senior A box lacrosse with its Mann Cup national title victory at the PNE Coliseum. After finishing the regular season 12-8, the squad rolled in the playoffs and won the B.C. title. In the Mann Cup championship against the Brampton Excelsiors, it appeared the Adanacs had met their match. Led by MVP Andy Ogilivie, the club overcame a four-goal deficit in the third period of Game Seven to claim it’s first and only national title on Colin Doyle’s goal with 35 seconds left in regulation.

BUILDERS

William Azzi’s name has become synonymous with soccer in B.C. Involved as a coach and volunteer with the old Cape Horn association, Azzi was a founding member of the Metro-Ford Soccer Club in 1984. The club, under Azzi’s guidance, became a dominating force on both the youth and senior soccer levels, resulting in 26 provincial champions and four national champions.

Don Cunnings’ involvement in sports in Coquitlam started as a coach at Our Lady of Lourdes, when he formed a gymnastics team that produced numerous medals at national and international competitions. In 1964 he was elected vice president of the Canadian Association of Physical Education, Health Education and Recreation. As the city’s director of parks and recreation, Cunnings was a key promoter of Coquitlam’s bid to host the 1991 BC Summer Games, resulting in a number of legacy facilities.

Lois McNary heard an advertisement in 1983 for a job position with the Special Olympics in BC and made it her cause. The Coquitlam native started as a volunteer and helped establish a Special Olympics Coquitlam branch. She’s filled numerous roles and postings with Special Olympics BC, currently servicing as vice president, sports. McNary is also a founding member of the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame.

This is the third annual Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, where members of the Hall and annual Wall honourees (who will be announced in a preceding press release) will come together to receive their well-deserved awards.