BY JASON
THOMPSON
Carol Hamilton-Goodale, a former Laurentian University
Lady-Vees basketball star, has been posthumously inducted into
the Basketball Ontario Hall of Fame.
Hamilton-Goodale died March 4, 2003 when she lost her battle
with cancer.
On top of being the first-ever athlete inducted into the LU
Voyageurs Hall of Fame in 1994, Hamilton-Goodale's exhaustive
resume also includes 12 years on the Canadian national women's
team, winning the Nann
Copp award for Canada's outstanding female basketball player in
1984-85 while with the Lady Vees and being drafted into the
WNBA by the Houston Comets, to name a few.
It was at LU where Hamilton-Goodale first met Pat Pickard
the woman with whom she'd eventually share the stage with when
the two were inducted into the LU hall of fame in 1994.
"It was a great honour for me to be inducted alongside her
because I truly believed she exemplified all of the
characteristics of a true Voyageur varsity athlete," said
Pickard, former director of LU athletics and currently the
co-ordinator of the sport and physical education program.
Raised in Sudbury, Hamilton-Goodale first impacted on the
basketball world at Sudbury Secondary School where she led the
North Stars to two provincial gold medals and was named MVP in
1980 and 1981.
Hamilton-Goodale's clutch play earned her the nickname "Ice
Woman" and attracted a basketball scholarship from NCAA
powerhouse Ohio State University.
Mimicking her success at Sudbury Secondary, Hamilton-Goodale excelled with the Ohio State Buckeyes, winning the student/athlete award as a freshman and helping her team to back-to-back Big Ten Conference co-championships during her two-year stay south of the border.
Hamilton-Goodale then returned home to finish her education at
LU, winning silver as a member of the Lady Vees squad at the
Canadian University Championships in 1984-85 and in 1986-87.
"Because we've always been really close to our athletes,
anytime we lose an athlete, it's always tough," said Pickard.
In addition to her skills on the court, Hamilton-Goodale was
also a certified coach, a motivational speaker for FAME (Female
Athletes Motivating Excellence) and co-founded Home-Court
Basketball, a non-profit club program.
Her induction into the Basketball Ontario Hall of Fame is
another accomplishment on her list of many.
"I think she would have been deeply honoured . . . and I think it would have meant a great deal to her and to her family," said Pickard.
