THE HALFTIME REPORT News from the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame

Message from the Hall

We’re so excited, Alberta. Every day that goes by brings us one step closer to reopening. But be assured that safety will be priority number one when we can finally reopen. Keep checking our social media feeds and website for updates on our reopening plans. We can’t wait to share all of the changes with you.

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Future Events

Currently On Hold

As per the current Covid -19 Guidelines, all in-person events are on hold – be sure to check back here once restrictions are lifted for a list of exciting events happening at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Look here for future events

New WHL Award named in recognition of Honoured Member Bob Ridley

Medicine Hat, Alta. – The Western Hockey League announced March 1st the Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence, a new WHL Award which will be presented annually to a distinguished member of the radio, television, and print journalism industry in recognition of their outstanding contributions to sports journalism and the WHL.
Original WHL Article:
http://https://whl.ca/article/western-hockey-league-unveils-bob-ridley-award-for-media-excellence

Provincial Sport Organization of the Month: Baseball Alberta

Baseball Alberta had its birth in the early 1900s, known at that time as the Alberta Amateur Baseball Association. For much of the early 1900s, the Alberta Amateur Baseball Association focused solely on Junior and Senior levels as they oversaw the leagues and Provincial Playoffs.

By 1964, the Alberta Amateur Baseball Association began organizing baseball in the province at all levels from Pee-Wee to Senior. The Provincial Government saw the need to provide travel funds for teams travelling to Westerns and Nationals in 1970. Very quickly baseball began taking off, as in 1971 there were already 104 communities involved with 539 teams registered.

In 1986 the Alberta Baseball Association adopted the name Baseball Alberta as its working name of choice. Today, Baseball Alberta is a leader in developing and promoting baseball on the Local, Provincial and National scene.

Baseball Alberta has been a National leader in developing items such as the Canadian Rule Book, the first National Baseball Week, Baseball Canada Pitch Counts, Girls/Women’s Baseball, the NUCP and NCCP, the Respect in Sport initiative, the Rally Cap and Grand Slam Programs.

There are now close to 100 associations registered with Baseball Alberta from all parts of the province and has over 15,000 players registered and playing baseball. Baseball Alberta prides itself on providing the opportunity for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to participate in the game of baseball.

This Month in Alberta Sports History

On March 3, 2019, the 27th Canada Winter Games wrapped up following an incredible two-week run in Red Deer. Approximately 2,400 athletes representing all ten of Canada’s provinces and all three territories took part in the event, which began on February 15. Team Quebec finished on top of the podium with 146 total medals, with Team Alberta in second with 100 total medals, and Team British Columbia in third with 87 total medals. Away from the sporting venues, the Games also featured a rich arts and cultural festival.

Artifact of the Month

Artefact: Silver Chalice Trophy
Accession #: 2001.15.08
Year: 1940s-1950s
Description:
The Alexandra Hotel Trophy was awarded to athletes competing in the Calgary Ladies Fastball annual championship between 1945 and 1956. Across the wooden base, there are seven small plaques with the names of the winning teams and the year of the championship. This trophy is made from silver and is shaped in the traditional ‘chalice’ style. Cup-style trophies began to appear at sporting events as early as the late 1600s. Since then, trophy style has changed considerably; with various shapes and designs found in modern trophies. The classic chalice-style, however, has remained one of the more popular choices in marking victory.

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Alberta Sports Hall of Fame

www.ashfm.ca

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame provides a family-friendly, interactive experience. You will be surprised by what you discover inside! Have fun, laugh, play and discover Alberta sports heroes together. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is an interactive, hands-on celebration of Alberta's sporting history. Our over 7,000 square feet of exhibit space includes a multisport area with virtual baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer; an adaptive sports area, including a 200 meter wheelchair challenge; a Treadwall climbing wall; the Orest Korbutt Theatre; the Hall of Fame Gallery; an art gallery displaying works by provincial artists, and much more. Our venue boasts a collection of over 17,000 artefacts of Alberta sports history and showcases many of these items in a number of displays. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame also offers an education program, group activities, and a unique environment to rent for your birthday party, special event, corporate reception or meetings.

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Alberta Sports Hall of Fame announces Class of 2025

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Alberta

Premier Danielle Smith hints Alberta may begin ‘path’ toward greater autonomy after Mark Carney’s win

Published on April 30, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta’s premier said her government will be holding a special caucus meeting on Friday to discuss Alberta’s independence.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hinted her province could soon consider taking serious steps toward greater autonomy from Canada in light of Mark Carney and the Liberal Party winning yesterday’s federal election.

In a statement posted to her social media channels today, Smith, who is head of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party, warned that “In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward.”

“As Premier, I will facilitate and lead this discussion and process with the sincere hope of securing a prosperous future for our province within a united Canada that respects our province’s constitutional rights, facilitates rather than blocks the development and export of our abundant resources, and treats us as a valued and respected partner within confederation,” she noted.

While Smith stopped short of saying that Alberta would consider triggering a referendum on independence from Canada, she did say her government will be holding a “special caucus meeting this Friday to discuss this matter further.”

“I will have more to say after that meeting is concluded,” she noted.

Smith’s warning comes at the same time some pre-election polls have shown Alberta’s independence from Canada sentiment at just over 30 percent.

Monday’s election saw Liberal leader Mark Carney beat out Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, who also lost his seat. The Conservatives managed to pick up over 20 new seats, however, and Poilievre has vowed to stay on as party leader, for now.

In Alberta, almost all of the seats save two at press time went to conservatives.

Carney, like former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before him, said he is opposed to new pipeline projects that would allow Alberta oil and gas to be unleashed. Also, his green agenda, like Trudeau’s, is at odds with Alberta’s main economic driver, its oil and gas industry.

The Carney government has also pledged to mandate that all new cars and trucks by 2035 be electric, effectively banning the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-only powered vehicles after that year.

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.

Smith: ‘I will not permit the status quo to continue’

In her statement, Smith noted that she invited Carney to “immediately commence working with our government to reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta with meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric.”

She noted that a large majority of Albertans are “deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”

Smith then promised that she would “not permit the status quo to continue.”

“Albertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous, and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa,” she said.

Smith praised Poilievre for empowering “Albertans and our energy sector as a cornerstone of his campaign.”

Smith was against forced COVID jabs, and her United Conservative government has in recent months banned men from competing in women’s sports and passed a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

Alberta

Hours after Liberal election win, Alberta Prosperity Project drumming up interest in referendum

Published on April 29, 2025

Todayville

News release from the Alberta Prosperity Project

Carney’s In. Now what?

You’ve been paying attention. You understand this is really bad. Worse than that, it’s dangerous. The country has somehow chosen several more years of a decade-long Trudeau Travesty…on steroids. Because this new Prime Minister has a three digit IQ, deep and questionable connections and a momentum to accelerate the further dis-integration of a nation we all once proudly belonged to. It’s untrue to say the country is dying. But it’s also not a stretch to say it’s on life support.

The era of Carney Carnage is here. While every province will experience it, there’s no secret he’s placed an extra big bulls-eye on Alberta.

It’s not personal, it’s financial.

His plan includes continuing to limit three of Alberta’s most prosperous sectors: energy, agriculture and, by extension, innovation. To acknowledge this requires we abandon our sense of romanticized national nostalgia. Nostalgia is a trap that prevents us from assessing the reality we exist in.

For instance, GDP is considered the financial heartbeat of a country. Over the past decade of Liberal Leadership, the national GDP has been an abysmal 1.1%. By relatable comparison, Mexico was 4%, the UK was 6%, Australia had 8% growth and the US was a whopping 19%.

That’s great information for an economist, but what does it mean to your pay cheque?

The everyday impact on the average Albertan —say, a teacher or mechanic— of 10 long years of 1% GDP means rent’s up at least 25%, a trip to the grocery store always stings, and driving an older car is the norm because an upgrade is out of reach. Does this sound like your reality?

We aren’t starving, but we’re not thriving, either.

Does this make sense for 4.5 million people living with the third most abundant energy deposits in the world? There’s an absurdity to the situation Albertans find themselves in. It’s akin to being chronically dehydrated while having a fresh water spring in the backyard.

The life you’ve invested for, the future you believed was ahead, isn’t happening.

If Alberta stays on this path.

So what can you, as an Albertan, do about it?

This Fall, we’ll be provided an opportunity. A life raft in the form of a referendum. It requires curiosity, imagination and courage to step into it, but the option will be there — a once in a lifetime shot at prosperity for you and your family: Alberta Sovereignty.

A successful bid means Albertans can finally paddle out of the perilous economic current that’s battered us for ten long years.

Alberta has the resources, talent and spirit of collaboration to create a prosperous future for our families and communities.
If you want your vote to finally mean something, if you feel you deserve more from your pay-cheque, grocery store visits and need greater control over your family’s future, register your intent to sign YES to sovereignty now.