Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame unveils 2026 induction class

By Lethbridge Herald on February 26, 2026.

Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald

Some of the best of the best in the Lethbridge sporting community are finally getting the call they’ve been waiting for.

The Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame announced their 2026 induction class during a media event at the Cavendish Farms Centre on Wednesday morning.

Toby Boulet, the president of the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame, says it’s a fun time when the organization gets to reveal the newest inductees.

“It excites me all the time. I talk fast anyway, but I talked really fast this morning because we’ve got some great nominations in there today. All the nominees are fantastic people, great nominations, worthy of getting their sport allocates. The other side of it as a person, we have some wonderful people. It’s exciting to be able to answer those questions and say this is our class of 2026.” 

This year, three inductees are heading into the Athlete category in Ross Bekkering, Wacey Rabbit and Kris Versteeg. Bekkering enjoyed a basketball career with the University of Calgary Dinos before playing in the Dutch Basketball League for six years and represented the Netherlands in 3×3 basketball in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Rabbit began his hockey career with the Kainai Minor Hockey Little Braves which led to a career in the Western Hockey League with the Saskatoon Blades and Vancouver Giants. He won a Memorial Cup with the Giants in 2007.

Versteeg had an 11-year career in the National Hockey League winning two Stanley Cups as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. He also represented Canada at the 2019 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. 

The team award was handed out to the 2016-17 Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s basketball team. They had a perfect 21-0 ACAC season before capturing their fourth national title with a 81-57 victory over the Dawson College Lady Bulls in Edmonton.

Dr. Alan Poytress is being inducted into the builder category. Poytress has been involved with the Fort Macleod Triathlon for over two decades and he has competed in triathlon events all over the globe. 

The special award category will go to the Ralph family out of Raymond and the Historical Award has been given to Pearl Violet Borgal who was Alberta’s first Junior Swimming Champion.

Plenty of inductees this year come from communities surrounding the Lethbridge area. Boulet says it’s important to give recognition to those who have contributed to sport, regardless if they were from the city.

“The Sports Hall of Fame started in 1985, and then one of their mandates was the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame, because a lot of the smaller areas, communities had their own little small hall of fame. As everything’s grown and Lethbridge has become more significant as a city and smaller towns are actually smaller, it’s important that we reach out to our community surrounding areas and say, who do you have? We’re embracing nominations from outside of the area. As long as they’ve done something in Lethbridge, they’ve trained or they’ve put some kind of sporting time in Lethbridge, then you’re good to go. If you’re worthy, you’re good to go. I believe that’s how it should be.”

There will be two recipients of the Kinsmen Sports Persons of the Year award. Shannon Clarke, also known as “MMA Barbie”, is being recognized for her strong performance in the Legacy Fighting Alliance circuit. Coby Iwaasa secured double gold at the 2025 Racquetball National Championships in Ontario and represented Canada in Chengdu, China at the 2025 World Games.

“It’s very important that we continue to highlight athletes that have done well and teams that have done well to support, and builders also.” Boulet explained. “Without those pillars of our community, we’d be missing one of the pillars. It would be a part of Lethbridge that doesn’t exist if you don’t recognize these athletes. Nobody ever goes to play sports when they’re five years old or whatever to go in the Hall of Fame. If they do, they’re in sports for the wrong reason. They love the game. They love the people they hang out with. They love the energy and the excitement.”

Since being founded in 1985, the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame has inducted more than 350 members.