Sask. Sports Hall of Fame hosts new inductees including Jon Ryan, Julie Foster

Sask. Sport Hall of Fame inductees including Jon Ryan and Julie Foster were welcoming during a ceremony over the weekend.

Saturday was a day to celebrate some of the most impactful people and teams in sport in Saskatchewan’s history.

While three athletes were inducted back to the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame back in April, they gathered with family and friends to see their names front and centre in the museum’s archives.

Of the athletes, Julie Foster, holds a long career in rugby, competing in three world cups from 1998 to 2006. Noah Miller, is one of Saskatchewan’s top water polo players, representing Canada from 2000 to 2008, and captured two bronze medals at the Pan Am American Games.

Jon Ryan is the third athlete – wrapping up a long football career.

“It’s really a special weekend for me,” Ryan said, a Regina native who played 12 seasons in the NFL and five in the CFL.

“I grew up as a kid coming to this building, seeing guys like Gordie Howe, Mary Bonnie Baker and seeing their exhibits in here – and now to think that I’m going to be included in that is just kind of a surreal thought right now."

Ryan also captured a Superbowl championship in 2014 – becoming the first Saskatchewan-based athlete to win a title.

“People from Saskatchewan are very humble, and sometimes I think maybe we sell ourselves short a little bit and don’t think that we can achieve some of these international things,” said Ryan. “This whole entire hall is proof that we can, and that just means so much to me because I don’t think a lot of people thought I was gonna make it to where I made it and I just be able to show the youth now that it’s possible.”

After 12 seasons in the NFL, Ryan made his way back to the CFL in 2019. The Regina-native was drafted by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers – but signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2019. He finished his career with the Edmonton Elks in the 2022 season.

Foster is an athlete of many talents, including representing Canada in 1993 in a two-game series against the United States.

Even though she started playing rugby at 21 years old, she continued to make an impact across the country. She made 44 international appearances, which ranks third all-time.

Foster said she reminisces on the friends that she made, battling it out on the field.

“I think when I look back at even starting, when I was helping out with a high school, they’re still my friends today. So, you may only get one or two from each high school that you play, but they’re still like they’re there for your life. It’s just a great sport.”

For Foster, it’s been a fitting week to celebrate her contributions to the sport of rugby, with Canada’s women’s rugby team making it to the World Cup final in New Zealand.

“Before, it was kind of ‘pay to play’ and it was hard to get players out,” she explained “I know, in past instances, I couldn’t go to things because I couldn’t afford it. Now, there’s more sponsorship, more money coming in, and they have more coaches that they like. It’s just so much better. They get to go to more functions, and they get to play more games and the more they play, the better they’re going to be.”

In the builder category, Brad Hornung and Klara Kesmarky Miller were inducted. The 1997 and 1998 Regina Rams Football Club and the 1978 and 1980 Saskatoon Harmony Centre Women’s Softball teams were also inducted.