Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame president Ted Perry, Mayor Bruce Banman, and new Abbotsford Centre general manager Andrew Nash officially opened the new Hall of Fame display at Abbotsford Centre on Tuesday.

Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame president Ted Perry, Mayor Bruce Banman, and new Abbotsford Centre general manager Andrew Nash officially opened the new Hall of Fame display at Abbotsford Centre on Tuesday.

Sports Hall of Fame unveils new display at Abbotsford Centre

The Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) has a prominent display at Abbotsford Centre to showcase its inductees.

The Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) has a prominent new display at Abbotsford Centre to showcase its inductees.

The display, which features a collection of plaques on the south wall of the 7,000-seat arena highlighting the local sports shrine’s 46 inductees, was officially unveiled on Tuesday.

“We wanted to get out there and enhance the image of the Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame,” said ASHOF president Ted Perry. “It’s perfect that we got this.

“We’re hoping it will get people to come to the Hall of Fame (located at the Legacy Sports Centre at Exhibition Park). But if nothing else, people will come to the events here and say, ‘Wow, Abbotsford has a lot of sports heroes.”

Tourism Abbotsford pitched in $5,000 to cover the cost of the display, which also features a plaque honouring locals who have played in the National Hockey League.

“I just think it’s great that we celebrate our own,” Abbotsford mayor Bruce Banman said.

In conjunction with Tuesday’s event, the ASHOF announced it is accepting nominations for its class of 2015. Individuals can be nominated in the athlete, coach/builder or community sport builder categories, and the deadline for submissions is Nov. 15. Nomination criteria and forms are available at abbysportshalloffame.ca.

Additionally, nominations for the Wall of Fame – which honours young athletes for their achievements during the 2014 calendar year – can be submitted at this time.

Abbotsford News