Inductees

Edna Stitt (2024)

Hockey Official

Sporting events don’t just happen on their own. They require people like Edna Stitt.

Stitt is being inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame for her decades of contributions as a volunteer. Hockey, fastball, baseball, curling – when games were being played, there was a good chance Stitt was somewhere behind the scenes, filling a vital role, all on her own time and free of charge.

In fact, at the age of 78 this year, Stitt continues to volunteer on the local sports scene.

In hockey, she was a long-time referee at the youth level, and has been a part of Prince George Spruce Kings game nights for about 25 years and counting. She has been a goal judge, has worked in the penalty boxes, and has served in the timekeeper/scorekeeper box. To date, Stitt has also been helping out at Cariboo Cougars games for about 10 years as a timekeeper/scorekeeper.

When the Spruce Kings hosted the Royal Bank Cup national junior A championship tournament in 2007, Stitt was there. And in 2017 – the year the Cariboo Cougars welcomed the rest of Canada for the Telus Cup national midget championship – Stitt was part of the volunteer crew that kept everything running smoothly.

In the summer months, Stitt has been making a second home at local ball diamonds for too many years to count. She played fastball for several years and then became an umpire. Also on the diamond, she has been a scorekeeper for women’s fastball and men’s baseball. In men’s baseball, she has made her presence felt at provincial, national and international events, including the 2012 Baseball Canada Senior Championship and World Baseball Challenge tournaments in 2009, 2011 and 2013.

Curling is another of Stitt’s passions, and she has always made herself available when major events have landed in the city. She was a volunteer at the 1983 Scott Tournament of Hearts national women’s championship when it was held at the Prince George Coliseum, and she donated her time at the 2000 Scotties when the tournament took to the ice at the Multiplex.

And, no surprise, when Prince George hosted the 2022 World Women’s Curling Championship at CN Centre, Stitt was in the building, doing her thing.

The seeds for Stitt’s volunteerism were planted early in her life by her mom, Jean, who would attend her daughter’s ball games and would keep track of scores and stats on little pieces of paper. Jean ended up becoming an official scorekeeper – an example Stitt later followed.

Stitt has been a resident of Prince George since 1958, when she moved here from Williams Lake with her parents. As a youngster, Stitt was also a hockey player.

“Sports has been me for 70 years, and you have to give back to a certain extent, so my volunteering gets me into the game,” Stitt told the Prince George Citizen in 2017. “Now I find because of my age I need to get out and find a purpose to get up some mornings, and some days my purpose is to go to the Spruce Kings game and other days it's to go to the Cariboo Cougars game. And that's what I do.”

The Prince George Sports Hall of Fame proudly welcomes Stitt as a 2024 inductee.