The Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 have welcomed inductees of the likes of Kamloops hockey legend Terry Bangen, FIFA referee Michelle Pye, prominent curler and coach Ray Olsen, decorated figure skater and coach Kim Scott Kryger, CFL player and local coach Brad Yamaoka, and finally the Eve Skakun Rink, winners of three BC Senior Curling Championships in four years.
TERRY BANGEN has devoted his life to coaching hockey. He has coached on the bench and lead teams such as the Kamloops Blazers, the Vancouver Canucks, the McGill University Redman, the Tri-City Americans, and for Hockey Canada. Terry won three WHL Championships with the Kamloops Blazers (1992, 1994, 1995), and three Memorial Cup Championships in the same seasons. For 19 years previous he was Athletic Director for Cariboo College and head coach of the hockey team (1976-79 and 1981-1989) leading his team to five Canadian College Athletic Association finals.
MICHELLE PYE Growing up in Kamloops, Michelle played soccer beginning at a young age. At the age of 19, she decided to train to be a referee to earn some extra money while she attended university. From then on her refereeing career continued to develop and grow. In 2006, Michelle was nominated to the National Referee list and received her FIFA Referee Badge in 2007. In 2008, she was appointed to her first ever international game – Canada vs. Brazil at BMO Field in Toronto with 15,000 fans. Since this game, she has had amazing opportunities from both CONCACAF and FIFA. She has been to three FIFA Youth World Cups and been a part of the final games in all three. She was also named as a certified FIFA instructor.
KIM SCOTT KRYGER Kim Scott Kryger began figure skating at the age of 6 at the Memorial Arena. She quickly developed and began competing and winning both on a national as well as an international level. In 1974, Kim placed 5th overall at the Nationals and 2 years later improved her Nationals by placing to 4th overall. By 1976, she began competing internationally at the Grand Prix in St. Gervais, France, placing 4th overall, but medalling in the freeskate portion. Kim skated competitively until 1980 and then transitioned into coaching where she coached for 15 years in Vancouver. She continues to coach today at the Valleyview Skating Club.
BRAD YAMAOKA An outstanding high school player at Kamloops Secondary and the MVP in their 1990 championship team, Brad Yamaoka went on to play at UBC following his secondary school career and was named a 1992 Western Conference AllStar. At UBC. Yamaoka led the Thunderbirds in rushing in three of his five seasons there and, as of 2019, holds the UBC records for rushing attempts in a season (set in 1992) and career rushing attempts. He went on to play in the CFL for the BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1997 to 2003. More recently, he coached the Kamloops Broncos of the British Columbia Football Conference until retiring in 2018. In 2019, he was inducted in the BC Football Hall of Fame.
RAY OLSEN Ray Olsen has been coaching junior curling programs at both McArthur Island and Kamloops Curling Club for many years. As a long time curler in addition to a curling coach, Olsen was awarded Coach of the Year by Curl B.C. in 2019. In the 2018-19 season he came back to coaching playdown curlers and worked with Team Yamada, one of the youngest teams at the 2019 Junior Provincials. He also coached Team Yamada representing Westsyde to the B.C. High School Championship and coached his daughter’s team, Lori Olsen, at the National Club Championship in New Brunswick in November 2018.
EVE SKAKUN RINK
The Eve Skakun Rink, winners of three BC Senior Women’s Championships in 1994, 1995, and 1997 and attending National Championships each year. Skakun, who passed away last year at the age of 90, curled with Liz Karpluk, Una Hazen (deceased), Sandy Allen, Janice Latta, and Kay Belanger during the title years.