Craig Patton, Andrew Walmsley, Trevor Hardy and Brad Dersch were awarded Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medals by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.
Four people with ties to Fort Macleod were awarded Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medals in Lethbridge.
Brad Dersch, Trevor Hardy, Craig Patton and Andrew Walmsley received the commemorative medals marking the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal will be awarded to 7,000 Albertans in recognition of significant contributions to the province.
The awards ceremony hosted by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame on Dec.11 was held at the Lethbridge Sport Council Community Room.
Brad Dersch is a school administrator and physical education teacher and has coached hockey, baseball, and basketball.
Dersch was raised in Fort Macleod and attended F.P. Walshe school before attended the University of Lethbridge where he played hocked for the Pronghorns.
Dersch also played hockey for the Fort Macleod Mustangs senior team, and coached the Fort Macleod Royals American Legion baseball team.
Dersch has dedicated much of his life to helping young people lead more active lives.
In 2021 Dersch received the Shaun Ward Sport Champion Award for his passion, dedication, and contribution to the Lethbridge sporting community.
Trevor Hardy has had a remarkable career that has taken him from athlete to trainer, to being inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
As a student in the 1990s and while hampered by a skin condition that causes chronic eye infections and impaired vision, Hardy won three Golden Gloves titles, including one as a super heavyweight.
He also won two provincial heavyweight boxing titles and a bronze medal at the 1996 Canadian Olympic boxing trials and later in 1996 the Western Canadian light heavyweight kickboxing championship.
Hardy is a former ICAF North American professional middleweight mixed martial arts champion and former WKA North American muay thai cruiserweight kickboxing champion.
After graduating from the University of Lethbridge in 1997 Hardy opened the Progressive Fighting Academy and began working as a professional trainer and fighter, and served as an athletic conditioning specialist for National Hockey League and Western Hockey League players.
Hardy created Canada’s first university transfer physical activity course in kickboxing.
Craig Patton is a long-time champion of sports and active living.
Patton has coached multiple sports at F.P. Walshe school in Fort Macleod and his teams have won numerous championships.
Patton is the physical education teacher at W.A Day school and runs their Wolfpack Sport Academy, which invites elementary school-aged kids to participate in sports.
In 2003, Patton was named Fort Macleod’s Citizen of the Year for his work in the community and was inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 as a rugby pioneer.
Andrew Walmsley is a coach and educator in Fort Macleod who has coached the F.P. Walshe Flyers girls rugby team to multiple zone and provincial championships and has captured more medals than any other coach in the school’s history.
Walmsley received the F.P. Walshe Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and was inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame as a rugby pioneer as he helped bring rugby to southern Alberta.
Also receiving medals on Sunday were Joe Meli, Michael Tamura and Graham Kelly.
