Name to the Corridor a particular second for B.C.'s Jon Cornish, Howard Tsumura

Article content material

Jon Cornish is already a Corridor-of-Famer, going into the Canadian Corridor in 2019 in recognition of his glittering nine-year profession with the Calgary Stampeders. He was the CFL’s Most Excellent Participant in 2013, the identical yr he received the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s male Athlete of the 12 months.

Article content material

However this subsequent induction — he’ll be a part of the 2023 class for the B.C. Soccer Corridor of Fame on Sept. 16 — this one is simply as particular.

Article content material

“For me, I take a look at this type of the highschool recognition. It’s solely now that I get to really discuss highschool, as a result of no person actually needs to,” the New Westminster native and alum of Burnaby’s St. Thomas Extra chuckled over the telephone from Calgary this week.

“However there was a sure magic about St. Thomas Moore, being a part of a soccer program was such a wealthy custom.”

In his senior yr at STM, he and future CFL star Calvin McCarty teamed as much as win the provincial title.

“I believe it was one of many biggest groups ever assembled in Canadian historical past,” Cornish stated.

The 38-year-old will be part of the B.C. Corridor together with Bryan Chiu, Will Loftus and Mark McDonald within the athlete class. Former Province sports activities author Howard Tsumura can be inducted into the Media class, alongside the 1996-98 Richmond Colts’ highschool squad within the workforce class, and Larry Donohoe and Terry Kehoe as builders. They’ll be honoured forward of the Sept. 16 B.C. Lions’ sport in opposition to the Ottawa Redblacks at B.C. Place.

Article content material

Article content material

Honours are outdated hat for Cornish, who can rely three Most Excellent Canadian Awards amongst his lengthy checklist of soccer accomplishments. He even has a trophy named after him — the Jon Cornish Trophy, handed out to the highest Canadian in NCAA soccer, derived from the popularity of Cornish’s college legend standing with Kansas.

However the former operating again can run again his statistics from his highschool days, like his 14.7-yards-per-carry common his senior yr, when he topped the province in touchdowns and tackles with the Knights. In all, he received two varsity titles and a junior title with STM, and was named the primary B.C. Excessive College Soccer Participant of the 12 months in 2003.

“I nonetheless have my B.C. sack document, my STM sack document; 38 sacks in two seasons. Twenty-three sacks in eight video games and like in my junior yr … these had been big-time stats,” he stated.

Article content material

Cornish retired from the sport in 2015. Halfway by means of an injury-plagued season, he obtained a job provide with TD Financial institution — the place he had been a teller for 3 years already — and the prospect of constructing extra money whereas defending his future well being appeared a much more interesting prospect.

Since then, he’s additional enmeshed himself in to the Calgary group, being named Chancellor of the College of Calgary in 2022, and establishing the Calgary Black Chambers — a non-profit group that helps members of Black, Indigenous and people-of-colour communities — elevating greater than $300,000 for scholarships and bursaries.

For Tsumura, it’s additionally a singular honour. He’s already within the Simon Fraser College and Basketball B.C.’s Corridor of Fame, has a highschool basketball match named after him and a litany of writing awards from his 27 years at The Province newspaper.

Article content material

“This one, is very particular to me,” stated Tsumura, who moved on from the newspaper enterprise to start out his personal web site, Varsity Letters, in 2017. “There’s such a professional component concerned within the B.C. Soccer Corridor of Fame. After which once you take a look at me, I’m an entire outlier. I gave voice to highschool and college soccer, and it’s simply so good (as a result of) there so many nice (writers) who lined skilled soccer. However I believe I’m stepping into as a result of I lined all the things however skilled soccer.”

Tsumura nonetheless has folks cease him on the road to say how he wrote a single line about them in a sport report 20 years in the past.

“For most likely 15 straight years, we obtained virtually each single highschool soccer sport performed within the province on-line,” he stated. “One of many highlights of my profession was doing that, as a result of it created a buzz in that ambiance in any respect the stadiums. All people was on their telephones. They had been all getting the studies because the video games had been being performed.

Article content material

“(My spouse) Belinda didn’t see me on Friday nights for over 15 years. From 4:30 within the afternoon till like 11:30 at evening I used to be simply in a single room, looking at a wall writing studies.”

Tsumura semi-retired from Varsity Letters final yr, the subsequent step in attempting to decelerate from a frenetic newspaper profession that took longer to cease than Snowpiercer.

“I’m pleased with what I completed, however the way in which that I did it was not the way in which to do it,” he stated, laughing. “I’m attempting to run extra however … my physique’s not co-operating with me proper now. I’m engaged on protecting match. I’ve watching what I eat. I’m caring for myself higher, bodily, mentally all the things. Retirement is a full-time job, and I’m placing within the OT proper now.”

Bookmark our web site and help our journalism: For up-to-the-minute B.C. information and the newest on the Canucks, B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps, add TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and enroll join our free Canucks Report and different newsletters right here.

You may as well help our journalism by turning into a digital subscriber: For simply $3.50 per week, you will get limitless, ad-lite get limitless, ad-lite entry to The Province, The Vancouver Solar, Nationwide Publish and 13 different Canadian information websites. Assist us by subscribing at present: The Province | The Vancouver Solar.

Article content material