Ashley Patzer (BSc '15) made her mark as a University of Lethbridge Pronghorn on the rugby pitch in the 2000s.
Knud Petersen has been the man behind the scenes — but no less important — over the past 30 years.
On Friday night, Patzer and Petersen will take centre stage together when they are inducted into the Pronghorn Athletics Hall of Fame for 2023.
The duo will be inducted at halftime of the Pronghorns men's basketball game as the Horns play host to the MacEwan Griffins in Canada West play at the 1st Choice Savings Centre gymnasium. Game time for the men's game is 8 p.m., while the women's game goes at 6 p.m.
Patzer was a staple in the Pronghorns rugby program from 2005 to 2009, while Petersen has been making things happen off the field as a member of the Pronghorns Booster Club since 1994.
On Friday night, those accomplishments will be celebrated as Patzer is inducted as an athlete and Petersen as a builder.
"I honestly was so shocked when Neil (Langevin, executive director, Pronghorn Athletics), initially contacted me about it," said Patzer. "It's obviously part of a massive team program that did really well. We, as a team, were inducted a couple of years ago. So, finding out I got an individual nomination, I wasn't expecting it. I was really shocked and super-honoured."
Finding out she was going in alongside Petersen made it that much sweeter for the Horns alumnus who went on to play nationally after her Pronghorns years, ultimately winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with the Canadian women's 7's rugby team.
"Finding out it was going to be alongside Knud, I think, just made it," said Patzer. "He's a massive supporter of Pronghorn Athletics and is such a good friend. I think the word would be 'stalwart'. He's just always there and so supportive of the program. He gets to know the athletes. I consider him a very good friend, so to be able to be inducted the same year, it's just an incredible honour. He's such a wonderful man and has been such a great support. I'm lucky to be inducted alongside him."
Petersen has been a leader in fundraising activities for Pronghorn Athletics. He has acted as Casino Chair for many of the casino nights the Booster club has staged, coordinating volunteers and working late night shifts. He also helped organize the first of many yearly Pronghorn Dinner and Auction events and is a volunteer for Operation Red Nose, a major Pronghorn fundraising initiative, doing pre-campaign groundwork, securing sponsors, and acting as an on-call driver.
Like Patzer, news of his induction caught the retired potato farmer off guard.
"It was something pretty unexpected altogether," said Petersen. "I've been involved for a long time. Personally, it meant an awful lot to me and when Neil told me Ashley was going in, that's a double honour."
Petersen called Patzer "the ultimate Pronghorn."
"She's really well spoken and that's the other part about Ashley. When I was a member of the U of L Senate, I invited her to come and speak and the group was impressed at how well-spoken she was. That was after she won the bronze medal with the Olympic team. She has a beaming personality. She's a kind person and a tenacious athlete. She was the person a lot of people looked up to and I remember her in her rookie year, it was like "Holy smokes. She's going to go places." Look at how she was able to further her career with the national team. She's just that kind person who, whether she plays rugby or not, she's an awesome person."
Ashley Patzer
Patzer said her time in the Pronghorns program kickstarted her career.
"(There are) just so many amazing people, Neil Langevin being one of them, recognizing my talent early on in high school and helping me follow the path of going to the U of L and then supporting me along my journey."
There were nine first-year players when Patzer joined the Pronghorns in 2005.
"All of us played until our fifth year," she said. "A lot of girls had done their degrees in four years, but came back for their fifth year. We were such a tight group and the program meant so much to all of us."
Patzer also gave credit to the Pronghorns who played before her.
"They just created an absolutely incredible program and we just loved being there," she said. "We loved working hard and we loved putting our heart and soul into the program and to each other. We created an amazing experience and some great results to look back on."
She recalls it being a big jump from high school rugby to the Canada West in 2005.
"I remember Paige Burdett and Evelyn McGunigal and those ladies who were in their fourth and fifth years and having that experience under their belt. They took all of us under their wings and showed us the culture of the Pronghorns and the work ethic that's required to play at the university level. They expected a lot out of us as rookies. It was fun, it was hard work. I remember the pace of the game was so much faster than high school. That first year was a big learning curve, for sure."
Patzer played fullback for the first half of her Pronghorns career before moving into the flyhalf position. It was an adjustment, for sure, and at times a little stressful for her coaches as Patzer made the transition to the new position.
"They're quite different positions," she said. "I think that position change and Neil and JJ (Ondrus) making that decision and helping me move to that position really helped set me up for my future career, just decision-making skills and actual skills in general, because as a fly half you have to be able to pass a lot more and your decision making has to be spur of the moment.
"I think Neil and JJ were probably pulling their hair out because I just kept running the ball because as a fullback you get the ball, and you try to run and score. You rarely pass, whereas as fly half I wasn't as good with the passing. I eventually got better at it."
While the memories of her time in Horns silks are many, Patzer pointed to the Pronghorns' 2008 national title, won at home in dramatic fashion, as one that is especially fond.
"It was an incredible experience, just the come-from-behind win against St. Francis Xavier University," she said of that 29-15 victory. "It was an amazing game. I'm so proud of our team for the resilience we showed during that game and being able to dig in — the defence we played and the attack we had. That's one (memory) that pops out in my mind. There are so many, but I don't think anything could top that one, playing at home at nationals and winning a gold medal."
After she retired from international rugby, Patzer remained involved with the Pronghorns.
"Anytime I was back in Lethbridge I'd get hold of Neil or Ric (Suggitt)," she said. "Being an alumnus of that program, there's a lot of pride, it doesn't just go away after you leave the school. So many of the women I played with in my five years and meeting so many of the women who came before me at alumni events has been so heartwarming. Being able to reconnect and keep those memories alive has been great and now I get to create new ones and just cheer on the next generation."
Patzer has been in Edmonton for the last two years, enrolled in a massage therapy program.
"I'm back in school, who would have thought?" said Patzer, who earned her kinesiology degree through the U of L. "It's something I didn't see myself doing a couple of years ago, but it has really just fallen into place and feels right and feels aligned and something I'm passionate about."
On Friday, she will take her place in the Horns Hall of Fame, bringing back memories of where her journey started.
"I'm sure I'll probably have a few tears, I don't know," she said.
Knud Petersen
Long before the Pronghorns Booster Club, Petersen was a presence at Pronghorns games dating back to 1972 when he worked alongside Jody Fry on the Castle Mountain ski patrol.
Fry's husband at the time, Robin, was involved with coaching the Horns men's basketball team and was the assistant coach to Gary Bowie.
"Phil Tollestrup was playing that year and they had an awesome team," said Petersen. "That's when I started going. Ever since then, when I had a chance, I was going to the games. I always made a point of going to the women's game, right from Day 1. There were (about) 20 people in the building for the women's games in those days.
"It was pretty exciting because the old gym was a real home court advantage because it was tight. You were right behind the benches. It was electrifying."
Petersen remained a spectator at Pronghorns games throughout the 1970s, getting more involved in the '80s when he started refereeing soccer at the university.
"Willie Plomp was the equipment manager back in those days," said Petersen.
When the school in Readymade that his children attended closed down, Petersen used some Pronghorns connections to help out.
"I arranged for a basketball game," he said. "I brought all the old guys back from the early '50s and they had a game against the C Jockeys from (Lethbridge radio station) CJOC. I arranged for them to come out and play the old provincial champion team. Willie lent me a set of Pronghorns uniforms for the team to wear."
In 1994, Petersen retired from his potato farming days in Chin. That planted the seed for his years with the Pronghorns Booster Club, which was founded during a period when funding for Pronghorn Athletics was in a state of uncertainty. The club was officially incorporated as a society on February 22, 1994.
"That's right when they started the Pronghorns Booster Club," said Petersen of the club founded by Dawn Keith (the club's first president), Murray McAuley (the U of L's first full-time athletic director), Brenda Boughton, Terry Innes, Dorothy Stein and Bruce Vance. "They ran a dinner and auction that year in March."
Programs such as Operation Red Nose, and events such as the Annual Pronghorn Booster Club Dinner/Auction and Casino played key roles in promoting Pronghorn Athletics and encouraging groups and businesses to show support.
Operation Red Nose was started by the Laval University swim team back in the early 1980s.
"In 1995, Sandy Slavin said maybe we should try Operation Red Nose," said Petersen. "Sandy brought it up at one of our Booster Club meetings, and we decided to try it."
With the exception of the pandemic years, Operation Red Nose has been an annual event ever since, raising thousands of dollars in support of Pronghorn Athletics and providing a valuable community service. And Petersen has been a fixture behind the wheel.
"When you've been there that long and still working Operation Red Nose, I'm thinking I might be among the leaders of putting in shifts."
Over the years, casinos, dinner and auctions have all benefited the Pronghorn Booster Club and thereby student athletes.
"I certainly didn't do it all myself, but I was quite involved," said Petersen. "The athletes appreciate it. It's so nice to have the athletes come up and thank us for the scholarships we got through the Booster Club.'"
The dinners and auctions readily involved the teams.
"We really got to know the leaders of the teams in those days because they would really help out getting auction items and running the show," he said.
The auctions started at the Students' Union Building before moving to Paradise Canyon Golf Resort, and ultimately landing at the Coast Hotel.
Those auctions made for some fond memories and a few antics as well.
"I remember one year when we were at the Coast, we had a John Deere riding mower donated," said Petersen. "The people who bought it lived just 10 blocks away. I remember driving it to their place at 10 at night."
Being on the University Senate for six years allowed Petersen to highlight Pronghorn Athletics.
"A lot of senators didn't know anything about Pronghorn Athletics," said Petersen, who in 2003 was honoured with the Gary Bowie Leadership Award. "It just gets in your blood. You can compare it to farming. Once you've been a farmer, you always know how the weather affects farming. It just stays with you."
As for his reaction on Friday night at centre court?
Petersen said he'll find out then.
"I'm not a particularly emotional guy, but sometimes you don't know. Some people get more emotional the older they get. So, who knows?"
