Alberta football leaders added to Canadian hall of fame, including its 1st woman
Vicki Hall and Lloyd Fairbanks are being inducted later this year
Vicki Hall will be the first woman inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame later this year.
The Calgary journalist has written about sports in Canada for two decades, covering the CFL, the NHL and the Olympics. She has worked for Postmedia, CBC News and The Canadian Press over her career.
In 2015, she also became the first female president of the Football Reporters of Canada, and then the first woman on the Canadian Football Hall of Fame selection committee. She is now a journalism instructor at SAIT.
"Over the years, I tried really not to focus on being the only woman. I tried to focus on being great at my job. So actually when they first told me, I didn't even think about it," she said in an interview with The Homestretch.
"Then I started thinking about it in terms of what it might mean for other people and young women coming up after me."
Hall is one of 10 new inductees into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum in Hamilton. The 2023 class includes five players, two builders of the game and three members of the media.
She is the first woman in any category to receive the honour.
"On behalf of the entire Canadian football community, it's my distinct privilege to open the doors of the Hall of Fame to the Class of '23," said the museum's executive director, Eric Noivo, in a news release.
"Their play on the field and their efforts to build up Canadian football have made our game what it is today."
WATCH | Vicki Hall reflects on her career as a sports journalist:
Hall says that throughout the beginning of her career, she was often the only woman around.
As a rookie, she understood she had to earn her stripes, but she often felt an extra weight on her shoulders, especially if she made a mistake.
"The first year was tough. I mean, I had people tell me I didn't belong there. I had people kind of laugh at me if I asked a question. And it was so rough that at the end of the first year, I said, 'There's no way I'm quitting now because after I went through that, I'm going to keep going,'" she said.
Still, Hall said the majority of people were typically kind and accepting.
And nowadays, locker rooms are changing, with more women in different roles around sports organizations, such as coaches, managers and officials.
"I don't think it's nearly as much of a novelty anymore."
Thank you so much to everyone who has reached out about the Canadian Football Hall of Fame announcement. I'm so honoured to be the first woman named to the Hall, but I can guarantee you I won't be the only one for long. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFL</a>
—@vickihallch'Really good news'
Among the other inductees is offensive lineman Lloyd Fairbanks, who played with the Calgary Stampeders for 11 seasons (1975-82, 1989-91) during his 17-year career.
Fairbanks, who now lives back in his hometown of Raymond, Alta., about 250 kilometres southeast of Calgary, said it was a surprise to receive the call.
"It just kind of put a smile on my face," he said in an interview with the Calgary Eyeopener. "Usually, you get a phone call and it's not good news. But in this instance it was really good news."
LISTEN | Lloyd Fairbanks remembers walking into the Stampeder locker room:
Among his career highlights, Fairbanks was named most outstanding offensive lineman 11 times during his career.
"I prided myself in knowing what I was supposed to do and trying to play as consistently as possible," he said.
After leaving Calgary to play for Montreal and Hamilton, Fairbanks decided to retire and build a house back in Raymond.
But in the late 1980s, then-coach Wally Buono of the Calgary Stampeders gave him a call, Fairbanks said, asking if he'd consider coming back to the team.
He ended up packing up and moving back to Calgary to play for another three years.
"That was probably the most satisfying time because you didn't have the worries of being cut from the team. I mean, it didn't matter because I'd already had my heyday, I guess. And so I just enjoyed the game and it was like being a kid again."
The players and builders of the game will be celebrated on Sept. 15 at the official induction ceremony.
The media class will be inducted on Grey Cup Sunday, Nov. 19.
Hall says she's be bringing her son and her 15-year-old niece, a football player in Winnipeg, to the ceremony.
"I want her to come and believe that anything is possible for her."