Star-studded 2006 Whitecaps women’s team highlights B.C. hall induction

Article content

The 2006 Vancouver Whitecaps women were the Vancouver Goldeneyes of their generation, playing before large crowds of young girls and inspiring them through sport.

Article content

Those Whitecaps won the W-League title that season, beating out 36 other clubs from across Canada and the U.S., and beating them out in a dominating fashion by going 13-0-1 and outscoring their opposition by a combined 46-7 margin.

Article content

Article content

The squad featured some of the most celebrated players this country has ever produced — Christine Sinclair, Andrea Neil, Brittany Timko, Kara Lang, and Sophie Schmidt, to name a few. Eight players from the group went on to win Olympic medals for Canada.

On Wednesday, the Whitecaps were named as part of the 2026 B.C. Sports Hall Of Fame induction class. It’s the way that group deserves to be remembered.

They were also one of the teams coached by Bob Birarda. In November 2022, Birarda was sentenced to two years less a day — including 15 months and 29 days in jail — by a North Vancouver provincial court judge after he had pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of touching a young person for a sexual purpose. Those charges related to four players he had coached from 1998 to 2008.

There are 44 people honoured as part of that Whitecap induction. Birarda isn’t one of them. His name has been left off.

Article content

Article content

Neil was representing the team at the induction announcement at B.C. Place on Wednesday, and talked about how the hall recognition was “huge for the group.”

“It was such a special group,” Neil said. “To come back in celebration, to come back together, is what’s most important.

“It was a very special group. It was a very high-calibre on the field and off the field as well.

“The players are all really excited about it. And I think for some it’s still just sinking in.”

The 2006 Whitecaps women are part of an induction class that also includes five athletes, three builder-coaches, one pioneer, one media media member, and the W.A.C. Bennett Award winner. The formal gala will be held this fall. Details on that are to be announced in the coming months.

Each induction class starts with nominations from the general public. They are later voted on by a selection committee. You can get nomination forms at the hall website.

Athletes

• Doug Brown, football: The Port Moody native played defensive line for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for 11 seasons (2001-11), was a seven-time CFL all-star and helped Winnipeg to three Grey Cup finals (2001, 2007, 2011).

Article content

• Silvana Burtini, soccer: The Williams Lake native lined up for 17 years (1987-2003) with the Canadian national women’s team and scored 38 goals, which still ranks fourth all-time in this country.

• Justin Kripps, bobsleigh: Kripps spent 16 years (2006-22) with the Canadian national team, and the Summerland product is the only Canadian to win Olympic medals in both the two- and four-man bobsleigh events. He piloted Canada’s two-man bobsleigh to gold at the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics and piloted Canada’s four-man bobsleigh to bronze at the Beijing 2022 Olympics. He also represented Canada at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.

• Georgia Simmerling, cycling/skiiing: The West Vancouver native is the first Canadian athlete to ever compete at three Olympics in three different sports. She was a bronze medallist in team pursuit cycling at Rio 2016. She also went to the Vancouver 2010 in super giant slalom and Sochi 2014 in ski cross.

• Les Wilson, soccer: Vancouver’s Wilson is commonly considered the first North American-developed player to play in the top division of English pro soccer. He had a 10-year career in both the English First and Second Divisions from 1965-74.

Article content

Builder/Coach

• Ossie Chavarria, baseball: Chavarria is a one-time Vancouver Mounties player who returned to the Lower Mainland when his playing career was over and was an umpire for 40 years while also serving as a coach, manager and scout.

• Jim Clive, beach volleyball: The New Westminster native is often tagged as the “godfather” of his sport, with more 50 years involvement at various levels. He is credited with introducing the sport at Kits Beach in 1978, and he founded the Kits Beach Volleyball Association in 1997.

• Barb Harris, field hockey: Burnaby’s Harris has been an athlete, tournament coordinator, judge and organizer in field hockey for over 40 years. That included serving as tournament coordinator of the 1979 International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations world championships held in Vancouver.

Pioneer

• Dr. Bruce Forster, sports medicine: Vancouver’s Forster is credited with developing the first portable field-of-play ultrasound imaging program for the Olympics, used at the Vancouver 2010 and at more recent Olympics since. He also served as the only radiologist affiliate at UBC’s Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre for over 30 years.

Article content

Media

• John McKeachie, television, radio, print: McKeachie, who is originally from Victoria, worked for over 40 years in the media. He is best-known for his 27 years (1973-99) as a sports anchor on BCTV, while also serving as an on-air host and colour commentator for Vancouver Canucks and Vancouver Whitecaps broadcasts on the station.

W.A.C. Bennett

• John Mills: Vancouver native Mills was a key leader in sport development in the province and nationally for nearly 50 years. That included serving on the board of Canada Basketball for over a decade, including as chair from 2011-18, and as executive-director and president of Sport B.C. from 1988-97, during which time he helped create the KidSport Fund. KidSport has raised over $10 million for youth sport and has expanded across the country.

The W.A.C. Bennett award, according to the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, “recognizes individuals who have made a significant, unique, and lasting contribution to sport in British Columbia, often going beyond the traditional athlete or builder categories.”

sewen@postmedia.com

Article content