Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
The Regina Sports Hall of Fame unveiled its Class of 2023 on Tuesday.
Erwin Klempner (football), the late Warren Poncsak (basketball, team handball), Toshi Shinmura (judo) and Bob Strumm (hockey) are being inducted as builders. Rob Vanstone (multi-sport) is going into the hall in the patron category, and Regina’s mixed 1995 five-pin bowling team is being enshrined in the team category.
The induction ceremony is set for Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m., at the Conexus Arts Centre. Tickets can be purchased at www.reginasportshalloffame.com or at Security Key & Lock at 2512 Dewdney Ave.
The latest class increases the total number of inductees to 120 (53 builders, 46 athletes, 14 teams and seven patrons). The hall also includes 150 honorary members previously recognized by the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.
Klempner played junior football with the Regina Rams before embarking on a teaching career. He coached high school football for more than 30 years in Regina and then joined the Rams’ staff, working with them in both the junior and university ranks.
He was the head coach of the PFC’s Regina Thunder from 2005 to ’12, and scouted junior players for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. He also coached softball, basketball and wrestling, helped with Football Canada’s long-term athletic development program and volunteered for a number of amateur events in Regina.
Poncsak played high school basketball with the Miller Marauders in 1978-79 and then with the University of Regina Cougars for five seasons before becoming a basketball official. He worked as a referee at the professional, university and amateur levels and also worked as a clinician, supervisor and administrator.
He also played on the Saskatchewan senior men’s team handball squad from 1986 to ’99 before becoming a coach with the national team and the technical director and executive director of the Saskatchewan Team Handball Federation. He died in 2021 at the age of 59.
Shinmura had practised judo in Japan before moving to Regina in 1977, after which he was asked by the city to start his own dojo. He was head sensei from 1998 to 2016 at the Regina Y Judo Club and also formed the Avonhurst Judo Club in 2000.
Shinmura, who was Saskatchewan’s senior champion from 1978 to ’82, received his fifth-degree black belt in 2012. He worked in the sport as a national A-level referee, as a member of the Judo Saskatchewan grading board and as a certified coach for 39 years.
Strumm served as the Regina Pats’ general manager for six WHL seasons, during which the Pats went 328-178-6 and won three East Division titles. He also coached for two seasons, compiling a 91-51-2 record.
As well, he was the general manager of Canada’s first gold medal-winning hockey team in 1982 and had stints as the GM of the WHL’s Billings Bighorns and Spokane Americans, and the International Hockey League’s Las Vegas Thunder. He also coached the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and worked in the personnel department of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings during his lengthy career.
Vanstone joined the Regina Leader-Post as a sports writer in 1987 before becoming the paper’s sports columnist in 1996 and its sports editor in 2001. He’s now the senior writer and historian for the Roughriders.
During his career at the newspaper, Vanstone covered nine Grey Cups, two Olympics, three Memorial Cups, the 2002 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., and numerous men’s and women’s curling championships in addition to a variety of local sports. He also has written four sports books and received awards for his coverage from the Regina High Schools Athletic Association, amateur football and the WHL.
The Regina mixed 1995 five-pin bowling team won the Canadian championship in Hull, Que. The squad finished first in an 18-game round-robin with 113 of a possible 144 points before defeating Quebec in the playoffs.
The team comprised Frank Fochesato, Rob Salmond, Don Clearihue, Kevin Clark, Bev Prosofski, Brenda Cuthbertson, Otilla Frei and coach Wayne Fiesel. At the national event, Fochesato made the men’s all-star team and Cuthbertson was named to the women’s squad after they averaged 272 and 253, respectively.
