Kjeld Brodsgaard enters the Hall of Fame in the Builder category for both wrestling and soccer. Kjeld was born in Denmark and when he was sixteen, the Brodsgaards moved to Canada. He competed in wrestling until graduating from high school in 1970 but he continues playing soccer to this day.

Kjeld's accomplishments over the past four decades are nothing short of astonishing. He has served from the local to the international levels as a coach, official, and organizer. On the wrestling side, Kjeld officiated on the provincial scene at high school championships, and both the BC Summer and Winter Games. At the national level he officiated for 27 years at more than 75 National Championships. From 1983 to 1989 Kjeld served first as Vice President of the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Official's Association and then as President. He was the Head Official for two Olympic Trials in 1996 and 2000.

On the international scene, his record includes officiating at Internal Level for 22 years until 2002. He was awarded the Federation of Associated Wrestling StylesExceptionnel Officialfor 13 years, the highest rank possible for an international official. Kjeld officiated at more than 60 International Championships including 20 World Championships and World Cups held in Tokyo,Tehran, Atlanta, Stockholm and elsewhere. He participated in Olympic Games in Atlanta and Sydney, Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and Manchester, two Pan Am Games, two European Championships and the 1990 Goodwill Games.

Now, on the soccer side. He started the Team Sales Goalkeeping Clinic, which is free for aspiring keepers, and for more than ten years he coached keepers at both the juvenile and senior levels. He was a Director on the Board of the Vancouver Island Soccer League for 15 years serving as Vice President, President and Past President. Kjeld was VP of Operations for the U19 Women's World Cup and the U20 Men's World Cup and he was Chair of Wrestling for the 94 Commonwealth Games.

Kjeld is still at it today. He is currently the Senior VP of the BC Soccer Association and a Director of the BC Games Society where he is the Chair of the Sports Committee.

These are only some of the many contributions that Kjeld continues to make in the development of wrestling and soccer, both here and abroad. During this long and stellar career he has accumulated many awards for his dedication and commitment including recipient of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles Gold Star; BC Wrestling Official of the Year on four occasions; Canadian Male Official of the Year; and Induction into the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004.

Additional honours include the BC Wrestling Officials Association scholarship established in his name and the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Officials Association award in his name.

SPONSORED BY HOWE & GRAMLICH WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC.

Michael Edgson enters the Hall of Fame in the athlete category for his astounding accomplishments as a swimmer. He could have harboured a lifetime of resentment after he was dealt a cruel blow at a very young age. Michael was sick as an infant and the prescribed medication damaged his optic nerves, rendering him close to blindness. When asked if he was bitter, he said he had zero bitterness because he is alive and his life has been truly enriched. As a young boy Michael tried hockey, an experience he called abysmal, and soccer, which was unsuccessful because of his lack of depth perception. At age 11, he was introduced to the Nanaimo Riptides Swim Club and his remarkable competitive career began. A year later he turned his skill and determination into winning at the national level with the Canadian Blind Sports Association Swim Team.

After swimming with the Riptides from grades 6 to 12, Michael came to Victoria and joined the UVic Vikes and Vic O's programs. His coach at UVic, Dr. Peter Vizsolyi, recalls that Michael was determined to attain the "able-bodied" standard for Canadian Inter-Varsity Sport Championships. Although unable to qualify, his dynamic personality contributed greatly to the overall success of the swim team in able-bodied competition and his achievements in disabled swimming were unparalleled.

Michael continued his winning ways, and at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Long Island, Michael won five gold medals, three silver and he set four new World records. At the 1986 World Championships for the Physically Disabled he won nine events. That same year he made headlines in Victoria as the first disabled athlete to be nominated for a major Canadian sports award. He was a finalist for the Norton H. Crowe Award for Canada's Male Athlete of the Year, along with his friend and eventual winner, Mark Tewksbury.

Over his storied career, Michael's accomplishments include 32 individual medals and more than 20 world records in an 11-year period from 1982 to 1993. In Paralympics competition, Michael won nine gold medals and set four world records in Seoul in 1988 where he was invited to be the flag bearer for the closing ceremony. He went on to win four golds, a silver and a world record at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics. With 18 Paralympic gold medals he is the most decorated paralympian in Canadian history.

His achievements and recognition include: a three-time recipient of the BC Disabled Athlete of the Year Award; a member of the organizational team for the 1994 Commonwealth Games; in 2009 the first Paralympics swimmer to be inducted into Swimming Canada's Circle of Excellence; inductee into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 2006, the Canadian Paralympic Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and the BC Sports Hall of Fame last year.

SPONSORED BY THE CANADIAN PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE