UNB Alumni
Telling our #ProudlyUNB stories

The New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame Inc. was established in 1970 to recognize and honour those athletes, teams and builders who have achieved outstanding success, and those who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of competitive sport in this province. 

On October 15, 2021, seven UNBers were inducted into the NB Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2021. 

Mike Flannery (BSc’74) and Chuck Kingston (BA’72, BEd’73, LLB’76) were inducted as part of the Team Tallon curling team. Skip Wayne Tallon and his Fredericton Capital Winter Club rink of mate Mike Kennedy, second Mike Flannery, lead Wade Blanchard and alternate Chuck Kingston achieved that lofty status winning the 2014 World Senior Men’s curling championship in Dumfries, Scotland. All five men had achieved a degree of individual success over their curling careers, but they reached the summit as a team. They won a pair of New Brunswick senior men’s championships, going through the provincial championship bonspiel with a 6-0 record in 2013 to represent the province at the national championship in 2013. At the Canadian championship event in Summerside, P.E.I., they compiled a 10-1 record and won the gold medal in impressive fashion, defeating Team Ontario 11-3. That earned them the right to represent Canada at the 24-team bonspiel in Scotland. They swept to the title, finishing with an 11-0 record and cruising to a 7-2 win over Team Sweden to finish on top of the world. 

Louis Fortin (BEd’10) Paralympic cross-country skier of Shippagan, New Brunswick first plotted the trail. Then, he blazed it, by way of Sochi, Russia, right into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.  

At age 14, he had his right arm amputated at the shoulder due to bone cancer. He didn’t begin competing until he was 31, training on his own with the goal of representing New Brunswick at the 2011 Canada Games in Prince George, B.C. A study in perseverance and determination, he trained with athletes who were preparing for the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver. Though he finished last in each of three race simulations, he kept going, kept training. It paid off: he captured two silver medals at the 2011 Canada Games and was invited to his first World Cup competition in 2012. 

He drew the attention of Team Canada coaches by finishing among the top 10 at two World Cup events and competed for Canada at the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. 

Joyce King (Class of ’87) of Lower Hainesville, New Brunswick, came late to the sport of arm wrestling, starting almost by accident at age 30. Ten years later, she defeated a Russian rival super heavyweight to become the best female arm wrestler in the world. King competed with both the left and right arms over the course of her career, earning 18 national championships and 18 World Arm Wrestling Federation medals. She was named Female Arm Wrestler of the year at the national championships in 1997. From 2001 to 2009, she was a national champion, using either her left or right arm. For five straight years in the early 2000s, she used her left arm to win gold at the world arm wrestling competition, first in the open and then the masters category. She is a three-time winner at the Women’s Arnold Classic Arm Wrestling Challenge, in 2007, 2008 and 2016, and was inducted into the Canadian Arm Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011. Over her World Arm Wrestling federation career, she won 12 gold, four silver and two bronze medals. 

Pauline Lordon (BA’89, BEd’90, MEd’07) was a leader, a winner and a dominating women’s basketball player. Introduced to the game as a child in her native Miramichi, she earned a Beaverbrook Scholarship to attend the University of New Brunswick Fredericton and quickly made her mark. She was team captain and Most Valuable Player on the UNB women’s basketball team for four straight years, female athlete of the year in 1989, top all round athlete and named to the CIS All-Canadian Women’s Basketball team in 1990, and two times League MVP. Additionally, Lordon was co-captain of Team New Brunswick at two Francophonie Games, leading them to silver in 1994 and bronze in 1997. Lordon was captain or co-captain on almost every team on which she played, and those leadership skills helped her transition into coaching and was awarded the 3M Sport Canada coach of the year award in 2001. She also appeared on the international stage in the role of Women’s Basketball Assistant Coach with Team Canada at the FIBA Americas Tournament in 1995, and 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. 

Gardiner MacDougall (UNB REDS Men’s Hockey Coach) is one of the winningest coaches in the history of university sports in Canada. The Bedeque, PEI native has coached 21 seasons with the UNB Reds and won seven University Cup national championships and was on the cusp of winning an eight National title when the COVID pandemic forced the cancelation of the 2020 Championships. MacDougall’s teams have won nine Atlantic University Sport banners and has accumulated more than 500 career wins behind the UNB bench. MacDougall has also won two gold medals at the World University Games, one as a head coach and one as an assistant and is the first UNB coach ever to earn the university’s prestigious President’s Medal. He’s also a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship from Rotary Canada and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for community service. 

Kathy Meagher (BPE’69) is being recognized for her achievements in building the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame. She joined the provincial government as a sport consultant in 1970, the year the Hall was created. When it became an independent organization in 1984, she was appointed the first executive director, a position she held until her retirement 22 years later. 

In that span, she oversaw the growth of the Hall, expanding the collection of artifacts, memorabilia and archives through donations; expanded the galleries and exhibit space within the Clark Building, and enhanced the public profile of the Hall by organizing events and exhibits which encouraged New Brunswickers to visit. 

She guided several communities in the establishment of their own Halls and Walls of Fame, with advice on governance, nomination processes and selection criteria. 

While an accomplished golfer in her own right, she has contributed her administrative talents as well, as a volunteer. She has been inducted onto both the Fredericton and Miramichi Sports Walls of Fame. She was chairperson of the 1978 national junior golf championship and served on the committee which ran the 2000 event. 

Photos and bios sourced from the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.