SSHF wins international award

Posted by Matthew Gourlie on October 28, 2021

The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame was awarded an “ISHY Award” from the International Sports Heritage Association (ISHA) at their annual conference on Thursday, October 28, 2021.

The SSHF were recognized for their current featured exhibit Prairie Pride: A History of Saskatchewan Football. The exhibit will remain on display until November 24.

Prairie Pride was created by Curator Bryann Seib and went on display when the SSHF re-opened on September 2, 2020. After the Hall of Fame closed to the public in response to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the province, a virtual tour was created by Seib and Communications Coordinator Matthew Gourlie in partnership with White Rabbit VR in Regina to enhance the physical exhibit with additional content.

Having the new exhibit has provided crucial content for Education Coordinator Vickie Krauss to facilitate her Virtual Field Trip program that has helped bring the SSHF into schools virtually during the pandemic.

“We are thrilled to have Prairie Pride recognized with an ISHY, particularly because it is a peer-reviewed award. Being recognized by our colleagues who represent the best the world has to offer in our industry is extremely gratifying,” said SSHF Executive Director Sheila Kelly. “I am incredibly proud of the entire SSHF staffing team who all responded so enthusiastically to Bryann’s first feature exhibit as curator and utilized its maximum potential in our programming and communications in what has been a most challenging year. I hope that people take the opportunity to see Prairie Pride in person before its exhibit run ends on November 24.”

Prairie Pride also won the Canadian Association for Sports Heritage (CASH) Award of Excellence in June.

The SSHF was one of four ISHA members who were honoured with ISHYs for their new exhibits created in the past year. Northern Light Productions’ installation at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, and The Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame were also honoured.

The 2021 ISHA Conference was held virtually and hosted by the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

This is the fourth time, the SSHF has been honoured with an ISHY Award. In 2011, the SSHF received the ISHA Communications Award for Building Pride: Saskatchewan Roughriders Centennial Exhibitions created in conjunction with the Dunlop Art Gallery. In 2014, the SSHF received the ISHA Communications Award for the SSHF website. Most recently in 2015, the SSHF was honoured with the ISHA Communications Award for The Spirit of ’89: Memories from the 1989 Jeux Canada Summer Games written by Ned Powers and published through the Sport History Project Grant.

ISHA is comprised of more than 130 institutions located in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. In addition, various corporations and individuals participate in and contribute to the growth of ISHA as associate members.

Special Announcement: SSHF Wins ISHA Award

Posted by Matthew Gourlie on October 24, 2015

The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (SSHF) is pleased to announce that The Spirit of ’89: Memories from the 1989 Jeux Canada Summer Games, co-published by the SSHF and The 1989 Jeux Canada Games Foundation, has been awarded an “ISHY” from the International Sports Heritage Association (ISHA) as the best book publication in the industry for institutions with a budget greater than $250,000 US.

Publications are adjudicated by our peers in the industry on the basis of how well they feature a member institution, collection, resources and/or inductees of the Hall of Fame.

The SSHF is dedicated to the celebration and interpretation of sport excellence and preserving the sport history of our province. One of the means by which we achieve our mandate is through our Sport History Project (SHP) which allows us to capture the history of organizations or events through different mediums. The Spirit of ’89 was produced under the auspices of the SHP and was written to capture the history of a major sporting event in Saskatchewan and Canada; to showcase the spirit of the people of Saskatoon in hosting the Games; and to commemorate the significant legacy components of the Games. Not only did the Canada Games leave Saskatoon with a wealth of facilities after the Games, the prudent financial stewardship of the Games resulted in a net profit of $1,319,663 from a $24 million+ budget. These funds, invested wisely, have resulted in $100,000 worth of grants being distributed annually to amateur sport programs throughout Saskatchewan resulting in the continued development of sport and providing opportunities to future world class athletes. The legacy of the Games continues.

Ironically, in capturing the history of the 1989 Jeux Canada Games, The Spirit of ’89 also captured historical anecdotes for a number of our hall of famers. Forty-two inductees, out of 498 at the time of publication, are represented in the book.

The ISHY Awards were announced at ISHA’s annual conference hosted this year by the World of Little League Museum in Williamsport, PA. Other 2015 ISHY winners include the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, NASCAR Hall of Fame, Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, San Francisco 49ers Museum, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum, United States Golf Association Museum and Melbourne (Australia) Cricket Club.

ISHA is a membership organization incorporated in 1971 to assist sport museums and halls of fame to develop, operate and promote their facilities in the best way possible. Member institutions are currently located throughout North & South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

SSHF Wins ISHA 2014 Communication Award

Posted by Matthew Gourlie on November 6, 2014

Left to right: Paula Homan (ISHA Communications Awards Committee), Saleem Chadry (ISHA CAC), & Sheila Kelly

The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (SSHF) is pleased to announce that our website, www.sasksportshalloffame.com, has been awarded a 2014 Communication Award from the International Sports Heritage Association (ISHA) as the best in the industry for institutions with a budget greater than $250,000 US.

The recent responsive changes made to our website, combined with the expanded content development, have been recognized by our peers in the industry with the awarding of an “ISHY” from ISHA.

Since re-launching the website Google Analytics has confirmed that the SSHF has made huge improvements in our online presence. We have grown from a few hundred visits per month to a situation where we now have thousands. Site visitors are averaging 12 minute visits as compared to the industry standard of less than 2 minutes. One of the most satisfying outcomes is that www.sasksportshalloffame.com continues to attract new visitors. The most recent data indicates that 77% of those looking at the website were new individuals. These statistics and much more combined to make us ISHY winners.

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We are indebted to our web designers, Command Base, for working with us on this award winning initiative.

The ISHY trophy was presented at ISHA’s annual conference hosted this year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

ISHA is a membership organization incorporated in 1971 to assist sport museums and halls of fame to develop, operate and promote their facilities in the best way possible. Member institutions are currently located throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and New Zealand.