It should come as no surprise to Prince George judo enthusiasts that Sylvia Hausot would give birth to a fighter.
"It was pretty scary," said Hausot about delivering her son Max Graf when she was just 24 weeks into her pregnancy last September at the B.C. Women's Hospital and Health Centre Foundation in Vancouver. "[The doctors] said he had a 50/50 shot of living, but he fought his way through like a future judo champion."
Little Max was one-pound, 10-ounces when he entered the world and after spending four and a half months in a Vancouver hospital Hausot was given the green light to fly home to Prince George with her son on Valentine's Day.
"It's been rough," said Hausot, who was one of five inductees into the ninth edition of the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame for her accomplishments as an athlete and coach in judo. "It's been really hard to be away from home and to have a sick baby."
After the stressful months of watching her son fight for his life it was a nice change of pace Saturday for Hausot to enjoy the recognition from her hometown as she, along with fellow athlete Lyle Dickieson (canoeing and speed skating), builder Niilo Itkonen (cross-country skiing) and coaches David Jenkins (lacrosse) Dale McMann (softball), were inducted for the 2012 class.
"I'm very honoured to be amongst the other inductees here," said Hausot. "I never imagined I'd be in judo for as long as I have been, but my dad's been in judo forever. It was just sort of a family sport that took on a life of its own - here we are almost 25 years later and I'm not competing anymore but I'm helping out with coaching at the club."
Hausot's father Christian started the North Capital Judo Club in Prince George. The 30 year old was six when her dad started her in judo.
"I remember being really frustrated because there weren't many girls in judo so I always had to fight boys and I was really frustrated because I was always losing," she recalled. "Until 1992. I finally beat a boy. Then I started beating them more and more."
When she turned 13, Hausot was finally able to fight women and her career took off as she began winning provincial, national and international competitions.
"I think fighting the boys helped me because it made fighting women seem a lot easier - though they got stronger as I got older," said Hausot. "Women are a little more scrappy. They tend to not care if their hair gets pulled. After two women fight there's clumps of hair on the mat and they're growling at each other; it's quite aggressive."
Dale McMann was just 25 when he became regional coordinator for Softball B.C. in 1979, a posting that eventually opened up opportunities with Softball Canada and the International Softball Federation, where he has been in on many decisions for world championship and Olympic competitions.
"It was a complete surprise; I didn't even know I'd been nominated," said McMann about the two congratulatory phone calls he received at his home in Surrey three months ago informing him of his induction into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame.
McMann lived in Prince George for 28 years and managed to fit coaching softball into his busy schedule of committee meetings and raising his children.
"To see the game grow and develop to the point where we're at now with over 700 colleges in the US playing it's just been a terrific ride for me," said McMann. "I'm just pleased that in some very small way I was able to give something back."
The 58-year-old has one disappointment though with the removal of softball and baseball from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London when they came up one vote shy of remaining in the four-year sports spectacle.
"We've got a committee at the International Softball Federation that I'm a part of to try and get back in along with baseball," said McMann. "We remain optimistic. We remain hopeful and we'll keep working towards that, but in the meantime the sport continues to thrive throughout the world."
