This week, Canada will recognize some of our greatest athletes with the country’s highest honour: the Order of Sport. This year’s inductees include ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir as well as Georges St-Pierre, arguably pound for pound the greatest mixed martial artist.
Also included in this year’s class are two Canadian athletes who achieved the highest levels of success in their respective sports – and overcame significant adversity to do it.
The first is basketball player Danielle Peers from Edmonton. Peers began playing basketball at 10 years old. Experiencing muscular imbalance as a young adult, they played wheelchair basketball for three years before being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Peers went on to help Team Canada win a bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games and a gold medal at the 2006 world championship. They also played with the USA men’s Division II national championship team in 2005, where they were named to the tournament’s all-star team, and became the first female most valuable player of the European men’s club championship in 2006.
Nicknamed “Yogi” for her outstanding catching abilities, Phyllis Bomberry pioneered her own revolutionary road to unparalleled excellence in Canadian softball. Bomberry was born in 1942 on the Six Nations of the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. As an Indigenous girl growing up in the residential-school era, she faced racial discrimination that might have deterred a less committed athlete. Taking up sports at school, she manifested a fiery competitive drive at a young age that would see her through tremendous adversity in pursuit of her dreams. After moving to Toronto to complete high school, Bomberry was recruited to play catcher for the Carpetland senior A team in the Ontario Senior Women’s League.
As a dedicated athlete, and to attend practices, Bomberry worked on an assembly line in a commercial radio factory, only to encounter open hostility as the only Indigenous woman playing on the team. Always within earshot of the stands at the catcher position, she repeatedly endured racist slurs from spectators while teammates, coaches, and league officials stood by, doing nothing. She negotiated unkindness on all sides with courage, dignity and professionalism. Bomberry led the Carpetland team to win Canadian softball championships in 1967 and 1968, and was named top batter, all-star catcher, and MVP in 1967, and all-star catcher again in 1968.
Her winning continued with a gold-medal performance at the first Canada Summer Games in 1969, where she was again named Canadian all-star catcher and MVP. In sports, there is an unmistakable and enduring truth: Adversity is the crucible in which the careers of many champions are forged. Whether it’s the physical adversity of injury, the mental adversity of self doubt, or the societal adversity of discrimination, the stories of athletes overcoming challenges resonate with all of us.
They remind us that our potential is boundless and that pursuing our goals and dreams can often be an act of courage and resilience. These great Canadians remind us that the power of sports extends far beyond the scoreboards and medals. In the face of life’s most formidable challenges, sports often serve as a living testament to the undying spirit of humanity, inspiring us to aim higher, work harder and strive to achieve the extraordinary potential that resides within each of us.
Michael Burns is executive chair of Canada’s Valour Games and co-chair, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, 67th Order of Sport Awards
Cecile Chung is general counsel at Samuel, Son & Co. and co-chair, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, 67th Order of Sport Award