The Burlington Sports Hall of Fame will be holding its annual induction ceremony on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at the Burlington Golf and Country Club, with another stellar class of deserving inductees feted on the night.
Mark Jooris, the current coach and general manager of the Burlington Cougars, is synonymous with hockey success in Burlington. Jooris got his start with the Cougars and set an amazing scoring record of 127 points in the 1981–82 season. He then went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) of the NCAA, where he totalled 183 points in 117 games over four seasons. His RPI career included a National Championship in 1984–85. Jooris played 13 seasons of professional hockey with the Finnish Elite League, American Hockey League, the German DEL and the Swiss National League A and B. After his playing career, he turned to coaching and scouting. He scouted for the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL and coached in the Swiss league as well as in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. In 2016, Jooris was named the Coach of The Year of the Ontario Hockey Association.
Peter Moore is being posthumously inducted into the Builder category for his decades-long commitment to officiating at the highest levels as well as his role as the first convenor of the Halton Secondary School Athletic Association. Moore, known as “26” throughout his career because of the number he wore, was a member of the Lakeshore Football Officials Association from the 1960s to the 2000s and was on their executive for over 30 years. He was the referee-in-chief and assignor for more than 20 years. Moore was also a 40-year member of the Hamilton Board of Approved Basketball Officials association, refereeing at the high school, college, and university levels. Outside of officiating, Moore also chaired or co-chaired six Girls and seven Boys Golden Horseshoe Championships for OFSAA. Also a fastball umpire for over 30 years, “26” turned to convening, acting as Halton’s Athletic Convenor from 1990–2005. Peter Moore passed away in 2013.
This year’s induction will be historic in that a father and son duo, both of whom represented Canada at the Olympics, are being inducted at the same time. Jim Reardon wore the maple leaf at the Munich Olympics in 1972 in the K-4 1000 m flat water kayak before turning to a coaching career, both at the local level, at the Mohawk Canoe Club and at the world level, where he coached at the World Junior Championships in 1981, winning two gold medals. He moved to the senior level and was an assistant coach at every world championship from 1979 to 1987. He also assisted at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, winning a gold and silver medal.
Brady Reardon competed in the same event as his father, the K-4 1000 m, at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, finishing ninth. He competed at every world championship since his debut on the world stage in 2007. In 2012, he went solo and won the silver medal in the K-1 500 m. In 2013, he teamed with long-time Burloak Canoe Club training partner Adam van Koeverden to become a World Cup silver medalist in the K-2 1000. Brady then teamed with Andrew Jessop in 2014 to have one of Canada’s greatest results at a world championship when they finished seventh in the K-2 1000 m. Brady also competed at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
John Tait has been a dedicated volunteer for over 40 years with the Burlington City Rep Hockey Club. Tait was a founding member of the Burlington Wolves — the Wolves eventually became the Burlington Eagles/Burlington City Rep Hockey Club. In 1995, he was named president, a position he held for 25 years. He was a founder of the Ron Wilkins Thanksgiving Classic Hockey Tournament, and helped develop the highly successful Golden Horseshoe Tournament, attracting teams from all over North America and Europe. Outside of hockey, John co-founded the Gift of Giving Back, Canada’s largest youth-organized food drive. He also was a former executive member of both the Burlington Sports Alliance and the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame.
Lisa Turbitt has been an accomplished Baseball Ontario umpire for over 40 years, and a Baseball Canada National Level umpire since 1995. Turbitt has umpired and supervised 20 Canadian National Championships and was the first woman to umpire at the Canada Games. In 2004 and 2006, she was the home plate umpire for the Women’s World Cup gold medal game. In 2004, Turbitt was the recipient of the Dick Willis Memorial Award, which goes to Baseball Canada’s “Umpire of the Year.” She also was the first woman to umpire at a World Baseball Classic qualifying tournament in 2022. In 2023, Lisa was awarded Baseball Canada’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the first woman to receive this award.
In addition to this stellar class, the BSHOF will also be awarding the Don Green Award of Distinction. This award honours an athlete, organization, or team whose accomplishments are worthy of recognition, even if they don’t meet the criteria for induction to the BSHOF. It is the intent of this award to not only recognize these achievements but also to shine a light on all who have contributed to the outstanding legacy of sport in our community. This year’s winner is Ward Russell, a coach and mentor to generations of athletes and students at Burlington Central High School, where he taught and coached football and basketball from 1954–1987.
Please note that this year’s induction ceremony, set for May 28 at the Burlington Golf and Country Club, is sold out.
