Burlington has a long and notable sports history that includes many outstanding athletes, coaches, officials, media, and volunteers. The Burlington Sports Hall of Fame (BSHOF) is dedicated to identifying and honouring these individuals who have contributed to this rich tradition. The BSHOF will be installing five honourees at their 2022 induction ceremony on Tuesday, May 31 at the Burlington Golf and Country Club. The fourth inductee is a world champion builder, and she got her start at the Burlington Curling Club.
Burlington resident Wendy Morgan has been recognized the world over for her coaching acumen, starting perhaps with the Harry Clark Award of Excellence in 2000 at the Burlington Curling Club. She has been Curling Canada manager and team leader for the top-ranked wheelchair curling program; a team leader for three winter Paralympic gold medallists and three World Wheelchair Curling champions. She was building for another Paralympic run in 2018, when a phone call from Olympic gold medallist and world-champion curler Jennifer Jones changed everything.
Wendy had caught the attention of one of the best curlers in Canadian history because of her path to success at every level of the curling world. Her resume includes ten world-level medals, including senior men’s, Paralympics, and World Wheelchair Championships. She joined T eam Jones and helped them to two Scotties Tournament gold medals as Canadian champions, one world championship silver medal and one world championship gold medal in her tenure with Jones from 2014–2018.
A graduate of the National Coaching Institute and a level 4 NCCP coach, Wendy also has instructional experience at curling camps in Canada, Germany, and Czech Republic and it was at some of these camps where Wendy connected with Jones.
Of Wendy, Jennifer Jones was quoted, “When we put together the list of people we thought could help take our team to the next Olympics, Wendy was at the top of our list, and we were just absolutely thrilled that she agreed. She is one of the nicest people you’re ever going to come across. She’s organized, smart, she’s great technically and she’s had so much experience — she brings a different perspective to our team, which is always great to have.”
Wendy found it great to be asked by such a high-performance team, but she knew the rigours of a four-year plan toward the Olympics and World Championships and made a huge impact as Team Jones won three medals at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, silver at the 2015 World Championships and gold in 2018. Team Jones was named the Team of the Year at the 2018 Canadian Sports Awards.
Wendy’s expertise was also recognized with the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award in both 2015 and 2018 as well as Curling Canada’s Joan Mead Builder Award in 2018.
A true builder of curling excellence in Canada, the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame welcomes Wendy Morgan into the builder category.
The May 31 BSHOF event is now sold out. If you are interested in getting on the waiting list for tickets, email Wayne Heslop at wayne.heslop@cogeco.ca.
