When school trustee Rolli Cacchioni died earlier this year, he left behind a legacy of a 54-year career in education as a teacher, administrator and school board member.
But another part of Cacchioni’s life that loomed large in his contribution to his community was his involvement in sports.
He promoted and supported high school sports and was a fixture at basketball and football games until his sudden passing in March.
He volunteered on several sports-related committees and was a founding member of the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame (COSHOF) 2008.
His passion and leadership helped school sports in the Central Okanagan to grow and succeed.
So it was fitting that Cacchioni was among this year’s inductees to the hall of fame he helped found 13 years ago.
Cacchioni will be joined on this year’s list of inductees by an Olympic medal-winning rower, national championship hockey team, a premier volleyball player and a builder behind both winter and summer sports in the region.
The 2021 induction ceremony, will be a professionally produced video that will premiere Thursday, Nov. 18, on the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame YouTube page.
Links to the video will be provided on all COSHOF and Kelowna Museums social media platforms and the Kelowna Museums Society website.
Among the other inductees, Scott Frandsen was a champion rower in the U.S. collegiate ranks and competed internationally for Canada.
The Kelowna native was seven medals in the World Cup rowing competition, four of those being gold.
He and his rowing partner Dave Calder captured a silver medal in the pairs competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
In 1993, Kelowna was home to the best Junior A hockey team in Canada, the Kelowna Spartans.
The BCJHL champs lost only 12 regular reason games, and bulldozed through the best in the west, going undefeated in the Centennial Cup national championship.
The Spartans defeated Chateauguay 7-2 in the cup title game.
Winfield’s Dorothy Schwaiger Jantzen was a force on the volleyball court. She helped George Elliot Secondary win a provincial high school title.
She was named MVP on the gold medal team at the 1976 Can-Am Games and powered the University of Saskatchewan to a national championship in 1979.
She is also a member of the Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and University of Saskatchewan halls of fame.
Al Horning, of Kelowna, was the co-founder of the Kelowna Snowmobile Club, the BC Snowmobile Federation and was a provincial snowmobile champion.
He helped build King Stadium, founded the Kelowna Softball Association and the general manager of the Kelowna Heat professional baseball team. He also managed the Rutland Molson’s hockey team.
In his spare time, he served on Kelowna city council for eight years and served as a Progressive Conservative Party MP elected in 1988, and was elected again as Liberal MLA in 2005.
Sharon Levesque was one of Kelowna’s most dedicated volunteers the city has ever known.
A passionate sports fan and penultimate Montreal Canadiens fan, she recorded and charted the successes of every athlete and team in the Central Okanagan.
She became the premier sports historian in the valley.
A contributor to many halls of fame across Canada, she was the heart of the committee behind the establishment of the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame nominations committee.
Her favourite slogan was: “Live, Love and Laugh.”
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