Browse "Sports & Recreation"

Claude Raymond, baseball player (b at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué 7 May 1937). He played 17 seasons of professional baseball, 12 of them in the majors. "Frenchy," as his teammates called him, went to the MONTREAL EXPOS on 19 Aug 1969 when they bought his contract from the Atlanta Braves.

Cliff Lumsdon, long-distance swimmer (b at Toronto 1 Apr 1931; d at Etobicoke, Ont 31 Aug 1991). At age 6 Lumsdon joined the Lakeshore Swim Club in Toronto, coached by the famous Gus Ryder.

Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn, snooker player (b at Victoria 16 Jan 1948). Since leaving school after grade 10, Cliff Thorburn has played snooker and pool virtually full-time. In 1971 he won the North American Snooker championship and since then has played in 33 different countries.

The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes (CHL) was an all-Black men’s hockey league. It was organized by Black Baptists and Black intellectuals and was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1895. It was defunct during and after the First World War, reformed in 1921 and then fell apart during the Depression in the 1930s. Play was known to be fast, physical and innovative. The league was designed to attract young Black men to Sunday worship with the promise of a hockey game between rival churches after the services. Later, with the influence of the Black Nationalism Movement — and with rising interest in the sport of hockey — the league came to be seen as a potential driving force for the equality of Black Canadians. Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp in honour of the league in January 2020.

Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, "Conn," sports entrepreneur (b at Toronto 1 Feb 1895; d there 18 Nov 1980). He was awarded the Military Cross in WWI and was severely injured by shrapnel in WWII. His reputation for

Connor McDavid, hockey player (born 13 January 1997 in Richmond Hill, ON). A two-time National Hockey League All-Star, McDavid plays for the Edmonton Oilers. One of the best skaters in the game, McDavid is also an elite playmaker. Since breaking into the NHL in 2015, McDavid has established himself as one of the most dynamic offensive stars in the league. He has won the Art Ross Trophy (2017, 2018), Ted Lindsay Award (2017, 2018) and Hart Memorial Trophy (2017). McDavid has also won gold medals with Team Canada at the IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship (2013), IIHF World Junior Championship (2015) and IIHF World Championship (2016).

Cowboys and cowgirls are people employed to tend cattle or horses. The first cowboys to work on the Canadian prairies arrived in the 1870s. The traditional cowboy lifestyle has since given way to a more contained, corporate model of ranching. But the romanticized image of the cowboy on the “open range” lives on as a symbol of the prairies. Today, the terms cowboy and cowgirl can refer to ranch workers or rodeo competitors.

Click here for definitions of key terms used in this article.

Craig Lorne Forrest, soccer player (born 20 September 1967 in Coquitlam, BC). Craig Forrest is arguably the best goalkeeper to play for the Canadian men’s soccer team. He was named Canadian Player of the Year in 1994 and 2000, as well as the Most Valuable Player at the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he carried Canada to their first and only CONCACAF championship. Forrest later became a well-known soccer analyst for Sportsnet. He has been inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia and the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame. He was also named to the All-Time Canada XI men’s team in 2012.

​In 1975, alpine skier Ken Read became the first North American to win a World Cup downhill race. For a period of about ten years, Read and three other young Canadians — Dave Irwin, Dave Murray, and Steve Podborski — challenged the European ski establishment and changed the course of ski racing history in Canada.

Curtis Hibbert, gymnast (b at Mississauga, Ont 1966). Hibbert is the finest gymnast Canada has ever produced. Proficient in all apparatus, he excels in the strength events. In 1987 Hibbert won the first medal by a Canadian at the World Championships with a 2nd place finish in the high bar.

Cyle Christopher Larin, soccer player (born 17 April 1995 in Brampton, ON). Cyle Larin is the all-time leading goal scorer for the Canadian men’s soccer team. He was the first Canadian player to be selected first overall in the MLS SuperDraft. In 2016, he was named MLS Rookie of the Year after breaking the record for most goals scored by a rookie. After scoring 43 goals in 87 games in three seasons with Orlando City SC, he was transferred to Beşiktaş JK of the Süper Lig in 2018. Larin helped Beşiktaş JK win the Süper Lig, Turkish Cup and the Turkish Super Cup in 2020–21. He also played for Canada at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Damian David George Warner, men’s decathlete (born 4 November 1989 in London, Ontario). Damian Warner is regarded as Canada’s all-time best decathlete. At the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, he won the gold medal and set an Olympic record in decathlon with 9,018 total points. He is one of only four decathletes to reach 9,000 points in international competition. Warner also holds the men’s decathlon world records in the 100 m (10.12 seconds), long jump (8.28 m), and 110 m hurdles (13.36 seconds). He has won many medals in international competition, including a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games and a record six titles at the prestigious Hypo Meeting in Götzis, Austria. In 2021, he was awarded the Lionel Conacher Award and the Lou Marsh Trophy and was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Daniel Albert Halldorson, golfer (born 2 April 1952 in Winnipeg, MB; died 19 November 2015 in Cambridge, Illinois). Dan Halldorson was one of Canada’s best and most influential golfers. He won seven Canadian Tour events and finished in the Top 10 in 28 PGA Tour events, amassing career earnings just shy of US$1.2 million. He was named Canada’s professional golfer of the year in 1981 and 1983 and is the only Canadian golfer to be a part of two World Cup victories (1980 and 1985). He served as deputy director of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada from 2005 to 2011 and was a mentor to such Canadian golf greats as Mike Weir and Ian Leggatt. Halldorson is a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of Canada Hall of Fame.

Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, OC, chess grandmaster, lawyer, municipal official (born 26 March 1925 in Brody, Poland; died 5 March 2000 in Winnipeg, MB).

Daniel Igali began wrestling at the age of 16 and entered the Nigerian National Senior Tournament. Despite the absence of designated age groups, Daniel Igali won his division.

Nestor entered few singles tournaments after 2000 when a shoulder injury forced him to concentrate on doubles, in which he is now considered one of the world's finest players.

Danielle Goyette, hockey player, coach (born 30 January 1966 in Saint-Nazaire d'Acton, QC). Goyette was a member of the Canadian women’s national hockey team from 1991 to 2008. In 172 international matches, she won eight world championships, twenty gold medals, and four silver medals. She is a member of the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame. Goyette was named to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2018.

Darren Zack (nicknamed Z-Man), pitcher in fastpitch softball (born 9 August 1960 in Garden River First Nation, ON). Compared in his skill to Babe Ruth, Zack dominated fastpitch softball in the 1990s. In addition to many other athletic accomplishments, Zack helped Team Canada win the Pan American Games fastpitch medal in 1991, 1995 and 1999. Though a fearsome competitor, Zack is known for his modest and humble demeanor off the field. He is actively involved in his Garden River First Nation community and in encouraging youth involvement in sports. (See also Baseball.)

Darryl Sittler, hockey player (b at Kitchener, Ont 18 Sept 1950). Darryl Sittler is considered one of the best-ever TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS players. Sittler began his hockey career with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey Association in the 1960s.

Dave Barr, golfer (b at Kelowna, BC 13 Apr 1952). Barr learned his golf while banging balls around a Kelowna schoolyard before joining the Kelowna Golf Club on a junior membership. He later attended Oral Roberts University on a golf scholarship, and turned professional in 1974.