Three Alberni District Secondary School alumni were inducted into the ADSS Sport Wall of Fame on Friday (Jan. 12), as part of Totem 63 celebrations.
Alyssa Herkel (golf), Eric Waldriff (soccer) and Doug Lindores (coach, in the builders category) have all had their names added to the wall.
Herkel was a member of the University of Victoria women’s golf team from 2009–12. During her university career, the team had four top-10 finishes at the Canadian University Championships, and she also won numerous individual awards. in 2009 and 2012, she was an All-Canadian athlete. She competed internationally in China at the 2011 World University Championships and in the Czech Republic in 2012 for the same championship.
For Herkel, being inducted to the Sport Wall of Fame was a new experience on many fronts. She has been living in Victoria for the past 10 years, and recently earned a master’s degree in clinical embryology; she is an embryologist with a fertility clinic in the South Island city. She had never been in the new Alberni high school—having graduated from the old ADSS on Burde Street.
“It’s gorgeous,” she said. Returning to ADSS is also a homecoming, and her Wall of Fame induction is something she’ll treasure.
“Coming home and feeling like I’m still part of the community even though I did move away…it’s nice to be remembered and brought back, and to see how Totem has changed and how it’s developed.”
She is the second Herkel to be inducted to the Wall of Fame: her uncle, Chris Herkel, is also on the wall, and also for golf.
Waldriff, who is a teacher at ADSS, played university and college soccer at Malaspina (now VIU), UVic and West Texas A&M, where he was a scholarship winner in 1999-2000. He was a CCAA Academic All-Canadian while at Malaspina University in 2005-06, and again in 2006-07, and he won two provincial bronze medals.
“It’s an honour,” he said. “Reading through the names, we’re a small town but we have produced a bunch of fantastic athletes. It’s an honour to be up there with some great names.”
Doug Lindores was a long-time ADSS teacher, coach and official during his 37-year career with School District 70. He coached numerous junior boys basketball teams and is best known for his many years as head track and field coach. In 1995 ADSS won the provincial cross-country championship, and both boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams had top three finishes in his time.
Lindores came to ADSS from AW Neill in 1986. “If you think about all the basketball, all the cross-country, all the track and field, all the bus rides and all the hotel stays, and all the kids that participated…I appreciated all those kids. We had some great kids in those cross-country days,” he said.
The referee who officiated the ADSS girls’ game prior to the Wall of Fame event had been on one of Lindores’ junior basketball teams back in the day; it’s one of many memories he recalled.
“It was always for the school. You don’t do this for yourself, you do it for the kids. You’re representing ADSS.”
The high school has been adding names to the Wall of Fame for a number of years now, said school athletic director Mike Roberts. The plaques don’t carry any years on them, as the athletes’ are celebrated more for their achievements than when they attended the school. Athletes aren’t inducted every year: there are strict rules on who qualifies, Roberts said.
“It’s not a huge wall but we’re keeping it small for a reason. It’s not easy to get on the wall.”
editor@albernivalleynews.com
