YORKTON — The Yorkton Sports Hall of Fame held its 2025 induction ceremony Saturday.
The night saw three individuals; Scott Borys, Harvey Stebner and Neil Weinmaster all in the builder category, and one team; the 2019 Yorkton Regional High School Raider Gridders football team, inducted.
Harvey Stebner “started coaching minor sports in 1970, and was active in various sports and at many levels for several decades. He was the finance chair of the Yorkton Terriers, then the first two-term president from 1976 to 1978,” detailed the awards booklet.
“He was instrumental in the creation of the Yorkton Macs Volleyball Club in 1980, serving as president until 1987. The team won the gold medal at the Canada Winter Games in Cape Breton during his tenure.
At the 1986 Saskatchewan Winter
Games in Yorkton, Harvey was Director of Sports responsible for sourcing venues, equipment and scheduling for all 15 sports. He was the Yorkton representative to Sask Sport for volleyball in 1982, the joined the Sask Sport board in 1987 for a three year term, the last two years of which he served as vice-president in charge of SaskLotteries. He was named Yorkton Sportsman of the Year in 1986, and received the Colonel Raider Award from the Yorkton Regional High School the following year.”
Looking back Stebner said he was proud of how small things he may have been involved in ended up turning into bigger things for the community.
Neil Weinmaster “has been making the ice for local curlers since 1988, first at the Tonkin Curling Club and for the past 26 years at the Yorkton Curling Club. This is also his 10th year as manager of the Yorkton club,” again from the booklet.
“Neil started curling as an eight-year-old on natural ice at the Tonkin club, and in recent years has been the most important person in the Yorkton curling world as the face of the Yorkton Curling Club. With patience, caring, and kindness he has convinced many youngsters to try and excel at the sport. His love of the game has convinced many to make curling a life long pursuit.”
Weinmaster took to the podium to say he was “so honoured to be here. It’s a wonderful experience for me … To all the friends I’ve made down the years both on and off the ice, thank you for your encouragement.”
Scott Borys “played club and high school volleyball in Yorkton, and was already refereeing in 1981 while still in high school. Over the course of almost 45 years, while active as a referee, he has also taken on organizational roles within provincial and national volleyball organizations . . .
“In Saskatchewan he served, among many other tasks, as a Referee Committee member from 1985 to 2022 and executive member since 2000, in charge of dozens of clinics for potential referees. . .
“In 2007 he became only the second person from Saskatchewan to attain accreditation as an international volleyball referee.”
Noting he had began his involvement in volleyball 45 years ago at St. Joseph’s College in Yorkton the recognition was sort of closing the circle as he is now retired from active officiating, adding a thanks for “this incredible recognition.”
Borys also noted that for him “it’s about the sport. It’s about the athletes.”
The Raider Gridders team consisted of players from Yorkton, Willowbrook, Canora, Kamsack and other surrounding communities, and came together with one goal in mind: to win a provincial championship for each other and the community.
“They worked together to have the season that they had, where no individual athlete was the star, making it truly a team win. In the provincial championship they were the underdogs, but defeated a very strong Saskatoon team in a nail-biting overtime win. They came from behind in the fourth quarter to tie the game in the final minutes. In overtime they pulled off a risky play that had only been tried in practice, after which the defence made an interception to secure the win.”
Jason Boyda, a coach on the team spoke.
“It means a lot to us,” he said of the induction, adding football has come a long way in the city, a city he said some American friends now term the ‘Little Texas of Canada’ when it comes to high school football.
In addition, two Yorkton Lions Support for Sports Awards were presented – one to Gordon Tamblyn and the other to Jennifer Ingham.
The awards recognize individuals, businesses, clubs and organizations who have displayed a long term and significant commitment to supporting amateur sports in Yorkton and area.
The Yorkton Sports Hall of Fame will accept nominations for 2026 starting early in the new year. Nomination forms, which must be completed in detail, will be available at that time on our website (www.yshf.ca), with nominations closing in May of 2026.
The board of our Sports Hall of Fame does not make nominations; those must come from the community. The board’s directors and Nomination Committee is available to provide guidance and answer questions, and ensure that the nomination forms have sufficient information to allow it to make a determination of eligibility.
The Hall of Fame use a scoring system that is generally recognized by similar Halls of Fame across Canada. Nominees are scored on accomplishments at various levels, including local, regional, provincial, national and international. To be eligible for induction, nominees must score a minimum number of points as outlined in the scoring system, which is fully explained on the nomination forms. The scoring system ensures that potential biases are eliminated.
