Five Grand Erie Alum Enter Brantford Sports Hall of Recognition

Mike Filer, Liz Hart Hinkle, Jennifer Kirby, Scott Rex and Brian Smiley are in the spotlight. All Grand Erie District School Board alums will be formally recognized on June 11 at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre as the Brantford and Area Sports Hall of Recognition congratulates its class of 2025.

Filer, Hart Hinkle and Kirby—former athletes—will enter as Inductees. Rex, also an athlete, and Smiley, a journalist, will be added to the category as Builders.

Filer, after graduating from Brantford Collegiate, lived his dream of playing professional football. An all-star, all-Canadian and two-time Grey Cup finalist with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Filer, an offensive lineman known as No. 51, played nine seasons in the Canadian Football League.

“Going to school in Brantford and becoming a multi-sport athlete built a foundation for me,” said Filer, who has a psychology degree from Mount Allison University and chose a career as a firefighter after football in Fredericton, N.B. “What I have achieved is surreal, a huge accomplishment not just for me, but for my parents and coaches who helped me reach this amazing time in my life.”

Kirby, just like Filer, was thrilled when informed of news of a special induction.

“It’s always nice to be recognized with an amazing group of people,” said Kirby, who was a multi-sport athlete and graduate of Paris District High School. “We had great athletes in the Brant County area. The guidance and mentorship that so many of us received made a huge difference, and now, being inducted brings back memories of success.”

Kirby, who started golfing at the age of eight was fortunate to eventually play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. She was the recipient of a full athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama, an academic all-American and a member of the championship team that won a National Collegiate Athletic Association title in 2012.

She credits her guidance counsellor, Bill Foster, who coached her on the high school team in Grade 9 and was also her caddy for several local events. Kirby would spend her teenage years alternating between the first semester in Paris and the second semester training in Florida.

These days, you’ll find Liz Hart Hinkle teaching in Chattanooga, Tenn., where she is also a basketball coach. However, she grew up in Brantford, was on the academic honour roll at North Park Collegiate and Vocational School and was chosen as a city-wide all-star playing basketball for the Trojans.

“I grew up in a community where sports were just all over and my experience in high school was very special to me,” said Hart Hinkle. “It was a great learning environment, both high school and in the community, and that also means benefitting from superb coaching.”

Hart Hinkle, a point guard, played for the University of Toronto and was a member of four Ontario gold medal-winning university championship teams and two silver medals nationally. There was more: exposure to Ontario squads, selection to the Junior National and National teams, as well as the highlight of playing for Canada at the 1999 Pan Am Games held in Winnipeg.

Scott Rex spent a great deal of his spare time playing hockey – be it with teams in Brantford, Hamilton, Stratford and Ohio State University – where he graduated with a Journalism degree. In 1994, he transitioned from player to coach, and has been at it for 31 years, educating youngsters in minor hockey.

“I’m a big backer of Brantford sport,” said Rex. “Just humbling, that’s what it is – to be recognized for being a builder of sports in the community. I don’t feel deserving because there are so many other great people who have done much in so many sports.”

Brian Smiley has likely witnessed more amateur sport in the region than many – and, yes, wrote about it as a journalist for the past 27 years with the Brantford Expositor. In his teen years, as a two-time football Most Valuable Player at North Park Collegiate, Smiley had always wanted to share stories - from the generic features of individuals to the successes and challenges faced by teams competing for championships.

“Playing sports in high school had lots to do with my career,” he said. “The championships were fun times, but so was writing stories about some great athletes and coaches. Getting as many names as possible in the paper for sports was special to me.”

Smiley, a journalism graduate of Conestoga College, remembers when his telephone rang earlier this year. It wasn’t just any call. As he listened, a smile appeared on his face.

“I was extremely humbled and honoured to be included with so many legends. Special times alright that will last forever,” he said.

For more information about the Brantford and Area Sports Hall of Recognition and the June 11 induction, visit www.brantfordareasportshall.ca.