Three athletes, one coach, and a team will be enshrined in the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame this week.
The 2024 class includes Ryan Jones and Amanda Anderson in the Athlete-Modern category, Michelle DeHaan in Athlete-Legend, Noralie Jackett for Builder, and the 1962-1963 Chatham Collegiate Cougars Football Team.
Jones played six seasons in the NHL for the Edmonton Oilers and the Nashville Predators, scoring 100 points in his career. He retired in 2019 after playing another five seasons overseas. Jones played for the Chatham Maroons and Blenheim Blades, before playing college hockey at Miami (Ohio) where he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
Anderson played basketball at Western University, where she is the all-time leading scorer and was a five-time OUA all-star, and two-time All-Canadian. When Anderson attended Chatham-Kent Secondary School, she won OFSAA gold in basketball, and provincial title in four sports in a single year.
De Haan (now Willemsen) was the first local basketball player to earn a NCAA Division 1 scholarship, attending the University of Detroit Mercy. She finished her career at the University of Windsor. DeHaan also led John McGregor Secondary School to five OFSAA basketball medals, including three golds.
Jackett taught at Chatham Collegiate Institute (CCI) from 1967-1974 and coached upwards of nine teams in a school year. She founded the Ontario Girls Invitational Basketball Tournament before OFSAA was offered for girls.
The 1962-1963 CCI Football Team won four consecutive Kent and SWOSSA championships from 1960 to 1963, going undefeated in the final three. The 1962 Cougars outscored their opponents by a combined score of 196-0 during the regular season.
The induction celebration and banquet will take place on Thursday, September 26 at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre in Chatham.