In 1983, the Sportswriters' Association of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

proposed a Western Australian Hall of Champions to honour past athletes from the state who had made a significant impact in their sport. The Government of Western Australia asked the then-recently created

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. Previously, if elite athletes from Western Australian needed to train or ...

(WAIS) to develop the concept and the Hall of Champions was inaugurated by Keith Wilson, the Minister for Sport and Recreation, on 19 August 1985.''Western Australian Hall of Champions'' handbook (2006) Fourteen foundation inductees were made in 1985 and since then several new inductees are made each year at a dinner hosted by WAIS. The award is the highest honour that can be accorded a West Australian sportsperson. The induction criteria are: *The person must have achieved the highest level of open competition in his/her sport; *The person must be product of the Western Australian sporting system, or have established their reputation while living in and representing Western Australia; *The person must been retired from open competition for at least five years. The selection committee currently comprises: Lawrence Apps, Ken Cassellas,

Liz Chetkovich Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Puli ...

, Alan East, David Hatt, Glenn Mitchell and Pam O'Connell. Former members were Wally Foreman and

George Grljusich George Ned Grljusich (15 January 1939 – 6 November 2007) was an Australian sports journalist, commentator and former Australian rules footballer. Born in Wiluna, Western Australia, he played 12 games of football for the South Fremantle Foot ...

. The award is separate from the

Western Australian Sports Star of the Year The Western Australian Sports Star Award, currently known as ''The West Australian'RACSports Star Award, is an annual award for sportspeople from the Australian state of Western Australia and/or playing for teams based in Western Australia. It has ...

which is given to currently competing sportspeople.

Inductees

References

{{reflist

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

Australian sports trophies and awards All-sports halls of fame Halls of fame in Western Australia Awards established in 1985 Australian hall of fame inductees 1985 establishments in Australia Lists of sportspeople from Western Australia