Welland Sports Hall of Fame

  Betty Houle is certainly Welland’s most successful female curler. For over 30 years her teams won every major bonspiel in the region and were the club’s Women Championship team on 15 occasions. In 1972 her team captured the Southern Ontario Ladies Curling Association Championship and combined with the Swayze rink to win the ladies Provincial Tankard Championship. Playing vice in 1974 the WCC mixed rink won the Ontario Curling Championship and went on to finish 6^th in Winnipeg at the national championships.

Betty was a Curl Canada instructor assisting junior curlers in their development and success. She held many executive positions including President of the Ontario Curling Federation in 1973.

  Abe DiMartile was a founding member of the WCC dating back to the first games in the Welland Arena in1947. He was instrumental in the building of our first club and its total renovation in 1992.

As a skip Abe lead his teams to over 100 bonspiel championships including the Quebec International Bonspiel in 1980. In 1963 alone his teams won 9 bonspiels including the St Catharine’s Champion of Champions bonspiel competing against 64 championship rinks from across Ontario. Abe’s rinks would go on to compete in 6 Ontario Championships.

Known as Mr Curler or Mr Banana Belt Abe was recognized with a Life Membership in the club in 1978 and on the Club’s 50^th anniversary was awarded a City of Welland metal.

  Eleanor White was an outstanding athlete. In 1950 she was a member of the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Provincial Women’s Softball Championship team and after arriving in Welland in 1956 she was a stalwart at the Welland Tennis Club. Club Championships yes, but she was better known on the provincial and national levels in doubles and mixed doubles play.

In curling she and her teammates won numerous Club Championships and area bonspiels. In 1974 along with teammates George Morrissey, Betty Houle and Larry Fisher, they won the Ontario Mixed Curling Championship and went on the finish 6^th at the Canadian Championship in Winnipeg, MB.

Eleanor in 1973 was honoured as Welland’s Female Athlete of the year.

  George Morrissey began curling at the age of 8. As a schoolboy curler George and his Welland High & Vocational School teammates won the Ontario Schoolboy Curling Championships in 1958. They went on to finish third in the Championships played in Charlottetown, PEI.

A Member of the WCC for 33 years, he won literally every trophy including the Club Championship 10 times. His teams won all of the region’s major bonspiels multiple times and over 25 Ontario Curling Associations District titles in both Men’s and Mixed competitions. .

In 1973 George skipped one of two Welland teams to the Governor Generals Trophy. In 1974 his rink won the Ontario Mixed Curling Championship and went on the finish 6^th at the Canadian Championship in Winnipeg, MB.

  Governor Generals Trophy championship team of 1973 consisted of front row, left to right, Larry Fisher, Doug Palmer, George Morrissey & Bob Dolishny, and back row, Dick Reuter, Dave Milencoff, Myron Sielsky & Bill Buchanan.

The roots of this completion date back to 1874 as a national championship. It was later changed to Ontario only with a team comprised of two club teams. The team with the highest number of ends won would advance to the next round.

In the first round, Welland defeated St Catharines and Niagara Falls. In subsequent rounds Welland defeated district and division winners Hamilton, Chatham and Kingston. In the championship game Welland prevailed over Toronto.