Class of 2019 Hall of Fame Inductees
On May 16, 2019 BC Wheelchair Basketball Inducted our first Class of Builders and Leaders.
Class of 2019
Peter Colistro
Throughout his career, Peter Colistro represented Canada at three Paralympic Games (1976, 1980, 1984) and two world championships (1979, 1986), helping the team secure silver in 1986. He is also a two-time Paralympic medallist in wheelchair athletics.
As a force to be reckoned with on the Canadian courts, Peter played for the Vancouver Cable Cars from 1971-1986. The Cable Cars were one of the most dominant provincial clubs in Canadian wheelchair basketball history and Peter was a part of the team that won six straight national championship titles. As a close friend to Terry Fox, Peter was one of the friends to first introduce Fox to wheelchair basketball prior to the Marathon of Hope.
Norah Fladgate
Norah Stronge, nee Fladgate, was the first female member of the board of directors and a founding member of the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society. She was the sister of founding member Stan Stronge and a strong female role model.
On May 19, 1983, the Greater Vancouver Wheelchair Basketball Society was incorporated under the Society Act of BC. The society later changed its name to the BC Maple Leaf Wheelchair Basketball society and lastly to the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society (BCWBS)
Rick Hansen
After being injured at age 15, Rick worked on his rehabilitation, completed high school, then became the first student with a physical disability to graduate in physical education from the University of British Columbia.
In 1975, Rick was recruited to play wheelchair basketball by BC wheelchair basketball society founder, Stan Strong for the Vancouver Cable Cars, a powerhouse wheelchair basketball team that dominated the national championships in the 1970s and early 1980s. Hansen won multiple championships with the Vancouver Cable Cars and was also a member of the Canadian National Wheelchair Basketball Team from 1977 to 1983 and competed for Canada at the 1980 Paralympic Summer Games in Holland where the team finished in 5th place.
Rick’s influence in wheelchair basketball went beyond his performance on the court. In 1983, he became one of the founders and first directors of the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society. He also motivated a young Terry Fox to become involved in wheelchair sports after the amputation of his leg in 1977 due to bone cancer. That year, Hansen invited Fox to play for the Cable Cars. Fox won the national championships with Hansen and the rest of the team in 1978 and 1979 before embarking on his Marathon of Hope in 1980.
William Lynes
Bill Lynes began his involvement in Basketball by officiating in 1948, while in high school and also playing on the Trail high school team that went to the B.C. Championship in 1951.
After he moved to Vancouver in 1957, Bill began officiating with the Vancouver and District Basketball Association and refereed there from 1957 until 1978. Upon his retirement from officiating he was approached by the team manager of the Vancouver Cable Cars wheelchair basketball team and asked to take on the role of head coach.
Lynes agreed and coached from ’78 to ‘81. In that role, he coached the Canadian Wheelchair basketball team in the Paralympics in 1980 in Holland which finished in 5th place.
Wayne Moser
Wayne was all about community. Growing up in Port Coquitlam as part of a close knit family, Wayne lived there for much of his life. His deep roots in this community, and others, were evident from many years of generous volunteer and philanthropic commitment.
Wayne was a devoted member, and former club president, of the Port Coquitlam Kinsmen Club. He was active with Kinsmen for much of his adult life, working to support local programs helping citizens of all ages.
Stan Stronge
Before his spinal cord injury, Stan had been a high level soccer player, winning the 1936 Canadian national championships with the New Westminster Royals and even being asked to try out for an English 1st Division team. Post injury, he was unwilling to give up his love of sport, so in 1950 he and Doug Mowat teamed up with
other athletes to form the first wheelchair basketball team in BC, the Dueck “Powerglides.”
Stan went on to become a player, mentor and motivator to others, inspiring players like Gene Reimer, Kevin Earl, Peter Colistro, Jeff Standfield, Reg McClellan and Rick Hansen to become involved both on and off the court. Stan was also instrumental in the formation of the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association and as a founding member and director of the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society. Later in his sporting career, Stan dedicated countless hours to coaching Paralympic swimmers and organizing BC’s involvement in Para Pan Am games until his retirement. Stan is remembered as a passionate builder of wheelchair sports in BC whose legacy continues to this day.
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These founding board members created an organization that has grown into the incredible organisation you see today and through which 1000’s have benefited from our programs and services we deliver.
