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Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 features HWDSB Connections

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Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 features HWDSB Connections

Later this week, Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame will be welcoming five new members at its Class of 2022 Induction Ceremony. These athletes and builders have left their marks on the local sports scene, and in two cases, some HWDSB schools.

Former educator Dr. Gene Sutton (honoured posthumously) and former student Jim Young will both be recognized at the 2022 celebration. Read their profiles from Hamilton Sports Wall of Fame below to learn more about their HWDSB connections.


dr. gene sutton

Dr. Gene Sutton – Builder (Gymnastics/Olympics)

Dr. Gene Sutton was the consummate mover and shaker in sports in Hamilton and beyond.

When she took on a project, it got done.

“With some people the term icon is used loosely but not with Gene. No one had the impact on Hamilton that Gene did,” Hamilton businessman and entrepreneur Ron Foxcroft said of Sutton at the time of her sudden passing in 2009 at age 64.

Dr. Sutton earned her Masters in physical education with a Doctorate in Sports Psychology.

She taught for 30 years at Winona High School, Scott Park Secondary School, Delta Secondary School, Mohawk College, McMaster University and Seneca College.

Dr. Sutton was particularly fond of gymnastics and was on Gymnastics Canada’s Board of Directors for 21 years, 17 of those as vice-chair.

She played a key roll in organizing the Canadian Gymnastics Championship when it was held at McMaster University in 1998.

Dr. Sutton’s sports interests extended well beyond gymnastics, however.

She was involved in an Olympic symposium in Greece and was co-chair of Hamilton’s Olympic torch celebration.

Click here to read more.


jim young

Jim Young – Athlete (Football)

Jim Young played his high school football in Hamilton for the Westdale Warriors before moving on to star with the Queens University Golden Gaels where he became the first player from that school to be drafted to a National Football League Team.

That was in 1965 when the Minnesota Vikings picked him. He played two seasons for the Vikings as running back and on special teams.

At the end of the 1966 season Young wanted to return to Canada and the Vikings were keen to sign B.C. Lions quarterback Joe Kapp.

In a somewhat complex even convoluted deal that also included the Toronto Argonauts and even to a lesser degree New Orleans and Washington, Minnesota ended up with Kapp and Young went to B.C.

It still stands as the only trade between a Canadian Football League team and an NFL team.

Young blossomed with B.C. where he picked up his nickname of ‘Dirty Thirty.” It was not only his uniform number but represented his hard-nosed style of play as both a running back and wide receiver and was the title of his biography.

Young played 13 seasons with the Lions and his jersey number is one of 10 retired by the team.

Click here to read more. 


Congratulations to Dr. Gene Sutton and Jim Young, as well as the other inductees, on joining the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame! The Class of 2022 will be inducted on Wednesday, October 26 at 12 p.m. at Michelangelo Events and Conference Centre.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Updated on Tuesday, October 25, 2022.
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