Victoria's Pat Sanders says she wouldn't be headed to the Canadian Curling Association's Hall of Fame if she hadn't had some great teammates.
"I'm thrilled to be going into the Hall of Fame, but curling is a team sport and I've had some great support,'' said Sanders. "I've played on some great teams, but my sweepers and line callers helped to make the shots. I think it is hard to put an individual into the Hall of Fame when there are four players on the team.''
Sanders first came onto the national scene in 1985 when she played third for Steve Skillings of Victoria at the Canadian Mixed championship in Toronto. The team of Skillings, Sanders, Al Carlson and Louise Herlinveaux won the crown.
"That mixed team was really strong,'' said Sanders. "It would stack up against any of the mixed teams in this era.''
In 1987, Sanders, along with Georgina Wheatcroft, Herlinveaux and Deb Massullo, reached the top of the podium at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. They would go on to capture the world championship later that year with a win over Germany's Andrea Schopp in the final.
Sanders would follow that championship with two Canadian senior women's and world titles while playing with Cheryl Noble, Roselyn Craig and Christine Jurgenson. They won their first Canadian crown in 2008 at Prince Albert and then travelled to New Zealand for the 2009 worlds. In 2010, with Jurgenson skipping and Sanders playing second, the team repeated with a Canadian title and followed that with a second world championship.
"Our senior women's team had such great chemistry,'' said Sanders. "Just having that pulled us through some tough situations. We had some great personalities on that team, and it was wonderful to win with them.''
Sanders, who is now retired, stepped away from curling last year, playing in only one bonspiel. "I'm now trying to learn the game of golf and spending some time in my garden.''
Sanders is still active in curling as a Level 2 official. "Curling has been very good to me, and I'm just trying to give something back to the game.''
Sanders will likely be an official for the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championships at the SaveonFoods Memorial Centre.
The induction ceremony will take place June 16 in Ottawa.
The others to be inducted are Alberta curlers Millard Evans, Ken McLean and Marv Wirth.
Peter Waugh from Nova Scotia was the CCA's Volunteer of the Year while Wayne Braun was named the winner of the Ray Kingsmith Award for his commitment and dedication to curling.
Linda Corcoran from Ontario and Bill Tschirhard from B.C., who coached Sanders's senior women's team, were recognized for their curling contributions with Awards of Achievement.
