Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Marcel Vander Wier

LASTING LEGACY – Kevin Murphy, left, and Les Johns hold up their hall of fame plaques during their induction ceremony Thursday night.

Murphy, Johns immortalized in Yukon hall of fame

Not even a broken arm could keep a young Kevin Murphy away from the game he loved.

By Marcel Vander Wier on February 5, 2016

Not even a broken arm could keep a young Kevin Murphy away from the game he loved.

“One year, he played with a broken arm,” said Table Tennis Yukon president Dave Stockdale, who introduced his longtime partner in sport before his hall of fame induction last night.

“He had the arm set at the right angle to play table tennis, so he was able to play the game.

“Kevin’s done everything. He’s a superb player and still is.”

Murphy, 57, was inducted into the Sport Yukon Hall of Fame last night, alongside longtime archery coach Les Johns.

“It is a great honour to be inducted in with the builders and other sports figures in the hall of fame,” Murphy told the large crowd on hand.

“Table tennis has been a big part of my life for a long time.”

When his father brought home a table in 1971, he had no idea how much it would affect his son’s life, Murphy said.

Murphy was 14 when he first picked up a table tennis racquet, and over the next four decades he starred in several major tournaments across Canada and the North.

Still ranked the top Yukon player nationally, he earned his 20th territorial men’s singles title last season.

The longtime coach is also known for singlehandedly keeping the sport alive when it was dropped from the Arctic Winter Games program for a decade in the ’80s.

Meanwhile, Johns has been an integral part of archery in Yukon, delivering countless hours to the promotion of the sport across the territory.

“I didn’t do it all by myself,” a humble Johns said after receiving his plaque.

The Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle coach and former Whitehorse Archery Club president re-directed thanks to several other organizers as well as his family.

“The person you have to thank the most is Sam Johnson. He was there for all the kids. Myself, I just came along and thought it would be good to get back into it.

“I blame my grandson for it. He’s the one that pushed me.”

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