The Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (SSHF) was awarded the Canadian Association for Sports Heritage (CASH) Award of Excellence at their Annual General Meeting on Thursday, June 10.
The CASH Award of Excellence was created this year to recognize and celebrate the achievements of CASH members. Projects were eligible to be nominated from four categories: museum, events, communication and collection.
The SSHF was recognized for their current featured exhibit Prairie Pride: A History of Saskatchewan Football.
“I was so impressed by the submissions we received. Everyone’s projects were fantastic and of extremely high quality. The Committee was extremely impressed with one project in particular which made excellent use of the resources available to them,” said Caitlin Dyer, VP of Communications for CASH and Chair of the Award Selection Committee, in announcing the award winner.
“(The SSHF) has an amazing display with a very cool virtual tour and an education component that went along with it. The Committee was really impressed and it’s a great example of an amazing project. We’re so thrilled to present to you the inaugural CASH Award of Excellence.”
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.
In addition, thanks to part-time staff member Justin Ottenbreit, our EZ Wall video system was refurbished to play a series of videos and vignettes related to the exhibit.
Having Prairie Pride on display also facilitated an opportunity where the SSHF has been able to display the original W.G. Hardy Rugby Trophy which has been given to the Western Canadian university football champions since 1922.
The CASH Award of Excellence was evaluated by the Awards Selection Committee using a point system.
CASH is comprised of 70 members and is a national association of institutions, organizations, and individuals dedicated to the preservation of Canada’s rich sports heritage.
