Haarpreet Sidhu
Sport – Karate
School – Burnaby Central

Nico Repole
Sport – Football,
School – St. Thomas More

Paul Dal Monte had an impressive junior lacrosse career winning consecutive Minto Cups in 1977, 1978 and 1979 with Burnaby Cablevision, and more than 12 years playing for the New Westminster Salmonbellies senior squad.

Dal Monte went behind the bench with the Burnaby Junior A Lakers in 1995. Dal Monte co-coached the team to B.C. championships every season from 1996 to 2003. They went on to win Minto Cup titles in 1998, 2000 and 2002.

More than 50 players from those teams played professionally in the National Lacrosse League. His record with the Jr. Lakers was an impressive 253-45. In addition, he helped coach team Canada to a Heritage Cup championship in 2002 and a world championship in 2003.

Dal Monte was also head coach and director of lacrosse operations for the Vancouver Ravens of the NLL during the team’s three years of existence (2002-2004).

Benjamin Seebaran’s cricket roots were planted in Trinidad but grew deep in Burnaby. Seebaran came to Canada in 1960 to attend the University of British Columbia not only to further his education but to play for the UBC cricket team which he captained in 1963.

As a player the Burnaby resident helped the sport grow in the Vancouver area including representing Canada in an annual match with the United States rom 1969 to 1972. During his playing years he began to coach cricket to youths. From the late 1980s to 2002 he was involved in both the B.C. and Canadian cricket associations in various capacities including helping to choose national junior and senior teams.

He was also the BCCA president from 1991 to 2002 and manager of the Canadian team at a prestigious tournament in the West Indies, as well as the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.

Merv Magus has been a familiar sight around Burnaby sports facilities for decades. Coaching teams throughout his 33 years, the Burnaby teacher increased his athletic involvement in his retirement years.

Magus has assisted with many senior boys and girls provincial soccer tournaments, been on the committee of the girls provincial basketball tournament for 13 years, officiated at the high school provincial track and field championship, and organized the Burnaby Chamber of Commerce Sport Recognition Dinner for 15 years.

He coached up to three girls basketball teams in one season to build a program at Burnaby South, coached teams at SBMC, and Basketball BC regional teams. He was a founder of our organization and has been an invaluable contributor to its success as its treasurer, webmaster and program coordinator. Although many may not know his name, they might recognize his artwork.

For years, Magus’s cartoons appeared in the Vancouver Canucks game-day programs, the B.C. Lions, Vancouver Grizzlies, Vancouver Whitecaps and Winnipeg Jets.

The graduate of Burnaby South Secondary, Jim Nelford distinguished himself in one of sport’s most intense cauldrons, golf’s PGA Tour where he played from 1978 to 1988.

He won the provincial high school golf championship and the B.C. junior championship in 1973, and the 1975 and 1976 Canadian Amateur title. After attending Brigham Young University on a golf scholarship, Nelford turned pro in 1977.

His best finish was second at two tournaments. The most notable was the 1984 Bing Crosby Pro-Am when he lost a playoff to Hale Irwin. Nelford appeared to be on the verge of winning the tournament when an Irwin shot on the 18th hole headed for the ocean bounced off the rocks and close to the cup which Irwin tapped in to force the playoff.

On the international front, Nelford combined with Manitoba’s Dan Halldorson to win the 1980 World Cup. Since his retirement Nelford has been a commentator for many television networks including ESPN, TSN and CTV. He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.

Alex MacKay, a longtime resident of Burnaby, was considered one of the best defensive players to ever play the game of lacrosse. As a junior, he was a member of the runner-up in the 1947 Minto Cup. MacKay went on to win the 1949 (Vancouver Burrards) and 1961 Mann Cups (Vancouver Carlings), as well as being a finalist in 1951 (Vancouver Combines).

He later coached the Mann Cup champion Carlings in 1963 and ’64. McKay played 272 games in his senior career scoring 116 goals and 122 assists. The former Vancouver Firefighter was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a player in 2007.

He already had a spot in that Hall as part of the 1961-67 Vancouver team which was inducted in 1999. The 1964 Vancouver Carlings soccer club he played on was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. He was so good on the pitch he was chosen to play for B.C. all-star select teams against touring international squads such as Moscow Lockomotiv and Hearts.

Darlene Currie, a resident of Burnaby for 35 years, represented Canada on the hoop hardwood many times. She played in three Pan-American Games in 1959, 1963 and 1967 in Winnipeg where Canada won a bronze medal. Currie’s teams also won three national senior women’s basketball titles in the 1960s. Her playing days didn’t end there.

She played on a team called the Retreads which won the first World Masters Championships in Edmonton in 1985, took silver in Denmark in 1989 and Bronze in Portland in 1998. The Retreads reorganized to win the 2005 title again in Edmonton. Currie was also head coach of the Canadian women’s national team in 1970 to 1972.

The retired teacher, who is still active playing slo-pitch softball, was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Basketball B.C. Hall of Fame in 2004.