SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Larry Godin (left) and Marg Derbyshire will be the next members of Medicine Hat's Sports Wall of Fame.
They’ve been at the forefront of sports in Medicine Hat for decades, and now Marg Derbyshire and Larry Godin will be immortalized on the city’s Sports Wall of Fame.
The duo was recommended to be added to the wall Monday during a public services committee meeting, with city council left to rubber-stamp it and an official ceremony to follow sometime in the new year.
“Oh my, that’s… that’s kind of overwhelming, that’s for sure. I’m humbled,” said Derbyshire, a former teacher whose involvement with school athletics has only grown over the years. “If I do my job right, then everything goes smooth and nobody recognizes that you’re there. That’s exactly how I like it.”
“I’m a lucky man today,” said Godin, still involved with the Hockey Hounds and a pioneer of sorts in para hockey with international honours to back it up. “Being a Hockey Hound, I’m really honoured. It’s one of the best things that has happened to me in the sports world.”
They’ll be members 28 and 29 on the wall, following this year’s class which included golfer Kelly Risling, gymnastics coach Eva Paniti-Meyer and pro football player Dan Federkeil.
Derbyshire started as secretary-treasurer for the South Zone in 1983, when the Alberta Schools Athletic Association combined the Southeast and Southwest zones into one. When she retired as a teacher in 2000 the role got even bigger as she had more time to do it; she was added to the ASAA’s hall of fame in 2011, among many awards and honours.
But this one may be her biggest.
“This is way bigger. That’s quite the honour, I tell you,” said the 69-year-old. “You see those kids come through in all the sports that I look after, I see them in Grade 7, eight and nine, all the way through to Grade 12. Then you get a Sage Watson… she gives me a call, sends me an email. Things like that are very special..”
Godin, 74, originally helped start sledge hockey in the city in the 1980’s, getting so involved he wound up refereeing the sport at the 1998 Paralympics in Japan. Now the retired city clerk helps the local association through his work with the Hounds, where he’s helped give back to the community.
“Just an average teenager growing up,” said Godin. “I started getting involved, I have three children and the two boys were in hockey, a little later my daughter came and reffed with me.
“While I was finishing up hockey I was at a game watching, saw an incident where a young referee, an adult accosted them so I signed up, took the courses and became a referee. That worked extremely well, maybe too well.”
They’re far from done their work as builders in the community, too. Derbyshire was at Rotary Track Saturday where a half-million dollar’s worth of upgrades were officially unveiled – she’s already been using them this past track and field season. Godin’s Hockey Hounds are gearing up for their 47th annual bantam AAA tournament Nov. 14-17, with a great roster of teams lined up to follow in the footsteps of the World Under-17 Challenge that begins later this week.
