Ernie Afaganis

Bell Memorial — Inducted 1977

Born in Lethbridge, AB, in 1928, Ernie Afaganis became one of Canada’s most respected and recognizable sport broadcasters through a career devoted to promoting both amateur and professional sport across the country and internationally.

Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, in 1933, Afaganis attended school in his hometown before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. An accomplished golfer during his university years, he was selected in 1950 to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Afaganis began his broadcasting career in 1953 at CFRN Radio in Edmonton. After gaining experience in private radio and freelance reporting, he joined CBC Edmonton in 1961, beginning a long association with Canada’s national broadcaster.

Throughout his career, Afaganis remained deeply committed to amateur sport promotion and community service. He regularly accepted speaking engagements at high schools and volunteered his time at approximately fifty amateur sport and charitable banquets annually.

As a broadcaster, he covered an extraordinary range of sporting events around the world. His assignments included world rowing championships, amateur wrestling, Silver Broom and Brier curling championships, Arctic Winter Games, World Figure Skating Championships, World Gymnastics Championships, Canadian junior and collegiate football championships, and numerous international hockey and basketball competitions.

Afaganis became widely recognized as one of the leading voices of Canadian football broadcasting. From 1955 to 1980, he was closely associated with Canadian Football League coverage and later served as president of the Football Reporters of Canada.

His international work included coverage of Summer and Winter Olympic Games from 1968 to 1996, as well as broadcast roles at the Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, and Canada Games between 1974 and 1994.

He also covered the Canadian Open Golf Championship from 1961 to 1986, Montreal Expos baseball, National Hockey League playoff games during the 1980s, and the Calgary Stampede from 1979 to 2000. For twenty-six years, he hosted the popular Par 27 Golf Show, further expanding his influence within Canadian sport media.

After Induction