A sold-out crowd spent the evening bidding generously on silent and live auction items, helping the Tigers generate valuable funds for our teams. Following a delicious three-course dinner, Sportsnet Central's Ken Reid regaled the crowd with the accomplishments of this year’s class of inductees and Sandy Young Award winner.
Sandy Young Award Winner - Bette El-Hawary
The Dalhousie A. J. Sandy Young Award honours an individual for their outstanding contribution to Nova Scotia sports. It was conceived by the late Dr. Sandy Young, a professor of sport history in the School of Health and Human Performance at Dalhousie.
Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Bette El-Hawary came to Halifax with her family at the age of six and pursued her love of swimming with the Halifax Trojans. She has been the Executive Director of Swim Nova Scotia since 1999 and in those 16 years, she has been instrumental in the development and promotion of the sport of swimming in Nova Scotia.
El-Hawary earned her Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie in 1998 and swam for the Tigers for three seasons. A proud alumna, she has maintained her ties to Dalhousie’s swim program helping keep fellow alumni connected to the current teams. She also plays a key role in running Dalhousie’s varsity swim meets. As the meet manager, El-Hawary recruits volunteer officials and timers, creates the event schedule and produces results. She gives up her weekends to make this happen, allowing the coaches to focus on the athletes. In addition to the countless AUS invitational meets she has run on behalf of Dalhousie, she has been the meet manager for six AUS championships and the 2007 CIS championships.
A dedicated volunteer, El-Hawary has taken on a number of roles at national and international levels. She served as mission staff for Team Nova Scotia at the 2003 and 2005 Canada Games in addition to being the swim team’s manager at the 2009 Games. Internationally, she has been a team manager for Swimming Canada 12 times leading senior, development and para-swimming teams around the globe.
In 2007 she managed Canada’s swim team at the North American Challenge Cup and Dutch Open. In 2008, she led Canada’s junior team at the Australia Youth Tour and Junior Pan Pacific Games. In addition to managing Nova Scotia’s swim team in 2009, she also led Team Canada to the North American Challenge Cup and the Para World Swimming Championships. In recent years, El-Hawary was Swimming Canada’s Youth Olympics (2010), Youth Tour (2012), Junior Pan Pacific Championships (2012) and Commonwealth Games (2014) team manager. She also served as team manager at the World University Games (FISU) in 2011 and 2013 and was most recently the team leader at the 2015 event.
While El-Hawary has shown great passion for the advancement of swimming over the years, she has also contributed to other causes along the way. She has served as Chair of the KidSport Allocations committee and sat on Sport Nova Scotia’s Provincial Sport Organization Board. Since 2011, she has volunteered with the Danny Gallivan Cystic Fibrosis Golf Tournament, serving as the fundraising and auction chair for three years before taking on the role of chairperson this year.
Hall of Fame Inductees
Anna (Pendergast) Stamberger, Athlete - Basketball
A Kensington, P.E.I., native, Anna elected to come to Dal to play after her volleyball coach at Kensington Intermediate Senior High School thought she would not be able to make the UNB team who was dominating the AUAA conference at the time. He thought Dalhousie was a better fit as they too had a good physical education program and had an up and coming basketball team. Bound and determined to be the best that she could be, Anna surpassed his and her own expectations on her way to becoming the first and only Dalhousie female basketball player to represent Canada at the Olympics, world championships, Pan American Games and World University Games.
She arrived on campus in September of 1978 to begin her playing career with the Tigers. A multi-sport athlete, Anna soon found herself on both the cross country and basketball teams which would be the start of a very illustrious career with the Tigers and beyond.
Anna amassed more than 1,000 points in her five years with the Tigers on her way to leading Dalhousie to their best-ever CIAU championship finishes with a silver medal in the 1979-80 season and a bronze in 1981-82. An AUAA all-star in 1980-81, she was the league MVP in both the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons. A team captain for two years, Anna was a two-time CIAU all-Canadian, earning second team honours in 1981-82 before being named to the first team in the 1982-83 season. She received the Class of ’55 Award as Dalhousie’s female athlete of the year at the end of the 1982-83 season.
She got her national team start as part of Canada’s junior national squad in the summer of 1980. After suffering a severe ankle injury that required surgery in 1981, she made her way on to the national senior team in 1982 where she would stay for 10 years, including three as a team captain. She represented Canada at many different international events, highlighted by leading Canada to a fourth place finish at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She went to three FIBA world championships, earning a bronze medal at the 1986 event in Moscow. Anna played a big role in Canada’s success at Pan American Games including a fourth place finish in Venezuela in 1983 leading up to the Olympics. She also went to two FISU World University Games in 1983 and 1985 and many other international and Olympic qualifying events.
After graduating with a degree in physical education in 1985, Anna stayed in Halifax to train and was an assistant coach with the Tigers for two years before heading to Europe to play professional basketball. She joined the German Bundesliga league in 1986 and had 15 solid seasons with Rentrop Bonn before retiring in 2003, serving as both player and coach her last six seasons. An integral part of the team, Anna helped lead them to three division championships as well as a national silver in 2002 and a bronze in 2003. Towards the end of her career with Rentrop, she was averaging 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
“Anna was a very quiet hard-working athlete when we first met,” says former national team coach Wayne Hussey. “She focused on her conditioning and skills that would allow her to be part of the junior national team and subsequently a long term national team player and co-captain. As her coach I appreciated her efforts, her honesty, and more importantly over time, her friendship. It was nice to see her develop into a very good international basketball player, a great university player and an even better person.”
“I must point out that Anna had a real thirst for knowledge,” adds Hussey. “Sometimes she had too many probing questions that made me wonder if she really wanted to know the answer, or if she was she just testing me. It was always interesting coaching Anna, never a dull moment.”
Paul & Eric Villeneuve - Volleyball
The Villeneuve brothers had an undeniable impact on the success of the men’s volleyball program in the 1990’s. They both played five years with the Tigers, sharing the court for three of those seasons. Between them, they have four CIAU (CIS) medals, three CIAU (CIS) second team all-Canadian selections, 10 AUAA (AUS) titles, six AUAA (AUS) all-star nods, four Tigers volleyball team MVPs and two Dalhousie rookie of the year awards.
Originally from Ottawa, Ontario Paul and Eric came to the Tigers after successful high school and provincial team careers. The oldest of the pair, Paul came to Dalhousie in 1989 after being heavily recruited by then-coach Al Scott. His real passion for volleyball developed in his grade 10 year at Colonel By Secondary School. Three years later, he led them to an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) championship in grade 13. Paul was a three-year provincial team member and earned gold, silver and bronze medals at the national championships and a bronze at the 1989 Canada Games.
During his five years at Dalhousie, Paul helped lead the Tigers to five AUAA championship titles. The Dalhousie rookie of the year in the 1989-90 season, he went on to be a three-time AUAA all-star and was the conference player of the year in both the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. A team captain and MVP for three seasons, he was instrumental in the Tigers bronze medal win at the 1993-94 CIAU championship where he was named to the tournament all-star team. A two-time CIAU second team all-Canadian, Paul received the Climo Award as Dalhousie’s male athlete of the year after the 1991-92 season.
Off the court, Paul was a member of the Varsity Council, the President’s Advisory Council on Athletics and volunteered with local organizations, earning him the inaugural CIAU Student-Athlete Community Service Award (formerly TSN Award) in the 1993-94 season. A Dean’s List student, he graduated with a Bachelor of Physical Education in 1994.
Two years after Paul came to campus, younger brother Eric came to Halifax in the fall of 1991 after successful high school and provincial team careers that were highlighted by an OFSAA championship in grade 11 and a bronze medal at the National Team Challenge Cup with Team Ontario in 1990. He chose Dalhousie after also being recruited by Tigers coach Al Scott and on the recommendation of his brother. Not one to live in the shadows, Eric made a name for himself early on in his volleyball career with the Tigers.
In his first season, Eric was named the AUAA and Dalhousie male rookie of the year. A three-time AUAA all-star, he earned four conference championships in his first four years at Dalhousie. A two-time AUAA championship MVP, he helped the Tigers to back-to-back CIAU bronze medals in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in History and French after four years with the Tigers.
After taking a year off, Eric would return for a fifth season, ending his volleyball career with the Tigers on a high note. Not only did he lead the Tigers to an AUAA championship, he also guided them to a silver medal at the CIAU championship that year, making him the only player in the program’s history to start on all three CIAU medal-winning teams. A CIAU tournament all-star and second team all-Canadian, he was the team’s co-MVP that year.
An Academic All-Canadian, Eric also made a substantial impact on the Dalhousie and surrounding communities, sitting on the Varsity Council, the President’s Advisory Council on Athletics and Dalhousie’s Honour Awards and Valedictorian selection committees while volunteering with the Canadian Cancer Society. He received the Dal President’s Award for excellence in athletics, academics, leadership and fair play at the end of the 1996-97 season in recognition of his efforts.
Both Paul and Eric have maintained their connection with the Tigers as assistant coaches. Eric was an assistant coach from 2000-04 while Paul was on staff during the 2009-10 season.
“Paul and Eric Villeneuve are both wonderful examples of the elite student-athletes of which Dalhousie University takes great pride,” says former head coach Al Scott. “Their achievements of excellence on the court, in the classroom and of community service are inspiring. Each played critical roles in guiding the Tigers to five conference titles and followed that up with national championship medal performances. Deservingly, there was a parallel plethora of individual recognitions for each at the conference, national and Dalhousie levels. It was Paul and Eric’s team leadership as captains that remains to this day as the most special remembrance of their proud time wearing the Black & Gold. It was such a pleasure to be their coach.”