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New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame
12 May 2004

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A town is a family. A family shares a house. A town shares a defined area of land which may not recognize divisions like rivers or national borders. A family shares a common history and, like a members of a family, townspeople live through times of prosperity and times of strife together. The relationships are not necessarily found in shared bloodlines or through marriage, but in the bonds forged by common experiences. These shared experiences, good and bad, strengthen these ties and give a community - and a family - its sense of its identity and its worth.

Sport and its hometown heroes are shared bonds. More than a means of entertainment before television or computers, sports brought - and continues to bring - citizens together. Regardless of age, gender or economic standing, people were - and are - united, sharing the common experience of rooting for one of their own. As a community, victories are celebrated, injustices are railed against, and loss is lamented. Generations later, the stories of great achievements are passed to those who will create the history of tomorrow. These feats - even if they are not widely known - are part of a town's legacy to the future, the invisible threads that create the tapestry that is a community.

Just as parents will be filled with pride when their children distinguish themselves, so a town takes equal joy when one of its own moves beyond good and into the realm of greatness. Hometown Sports Heroes carry the banner of their community. When away or at home, their abilities, prowess and skills transcend individual or team accomplishments and become representational of qualities that are proudly shared by all members of the community.