A year after the CCAA honoured 10 of its original builders at the inaugural Hall of Fame Banquet, two more builders were inducted during a ceremony at the Crowne Plaza in Fredericton, NB. And for the first time, three coaches and an athlete were also inducted.

The event was hosted by St. Thomas University and the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association as part of the CCAA’s annual general meeting.

Dr. Carl (Bucky) Buchanan (Coach), Matt Fegan (Athlete) and Dave Douglas (Coach) now represent the ACAA in the Hall of Fame alongside the RSEQ’s Jacques Cyr (Builder) and Chris Hunter (Coach) as well as the OCAA’s Ivan (Chuck) Gullickson (Builder).

In his induction speech, Gullickson recalled how the CCAA and its members persisted through some difficult years.

“The thing that motivated me, when we hit those hard times it would have been easy for member colleges and conferences to throw in the towel, but they did the exact opposite,” said Gullickson. “They carried the can during those years where our funding was near zero and that to me really told me what this Association was about.

“I will certainly always cherish my years in this Association and the people within it and I’m thankful for this recognition,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fegan became the first CCAA student-athlete to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was moved by his fellow inductees’ speeches.

“Your stories really make me realize what a great achievement this is,” said Fegan. “It’s such a sincere honour.”

On this night, Fegan remembered his friends and teammates at the Univeristy of King’s in Halifax. “I made lifelong friends at King’s,” said Fegan. “The guys that play with you are the ones that help you shine.”

Prior to the induction ceremony, annual member awards were also handed out.

Fred Batley of Fleming College in Peterborough, ON, was presented with the Athletic Director of the Year Award. Batley, who has been the Athletic Director at Fleming for 25 years, has made significant contributions at the institution, conference and national levels.

“It really humbled me because as an Athletic Director, or even when you’re doing CCAA or OCAA work, you do it for the labour of love and you don’t really expect anything in return,” said Batley, who also serves as the CCAA’s Women’s Volleyball Convenor. “So to be acknowledged by your peers, it’s totally amazing.”

For a record fourth time, the SAIT Trojans received the Community Service Award for their “Make Some Noise for Mental Health” program. This pilot project encouraged open-mindedness and initiated conversations about mental health. Trojans Athletic Director Mark Pretzlaff and Billie Rae Busby, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at SAIT, were on hand to receive the award.

And Cégep Édouard-Montpetit was presented with the Innovation Award for hosting an eco-friendly 2015 CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship. Benoit Carrière, Collegiate Program Director at the RSEQ, accepted the award on behalf of Édouard-Montpetit.

Vince Amato, CCAA VP of Marketing, was the master of ceremonies for the evening.