• Alan is the only curler in NS men’s curling history to have his name engraved on all three Provincial Men’s Curling Championship Trophies.
• Alan is one of only two curlers in NS men’s curling history to have represented Nova Scotia in four different decades – 1978, 1979, 1981, 1990 and 2008.
• Alan has been in 24 Nova Scotia Provincial Finals leading to a National.
• For 10 straight years, Alan has been in the Senior Men’s Provincial final, from age 52 to 61 – winning 4 of those 10 finals.

Story – Induction Speech Read by Bill MacPhee

Alan is not just known for his curling accomplishments, he is known as a true legend in the game:  Alan is respectful of his peers, humble to the curling gods and a true professional on and off the ice.

As a child I looked up to guys like Alan & my father, they just had that “IT” factor… I always described them as professionals when it came to curling.  Alan seemed to thrive off pressure and loved to be in the heat of the moment.

It is funny everyone has always known Alan to never really fill up his gas tank, one time he even put a piece of duct tape over the gas gauge and he told his teammates, “You never know when we are going to run out of gas.”  For years we have been thinking Alan is a little nutty, but actually he has been using this skill to test all his players in the past… Alan wants to see if they can handle the pressure and when they do run out of gas Alan is known to be seen in the driver’s seat smoking, steering the car ans the rest of the team pushes the car to a gas station.   And if you ask Alan what he was doing, he would just raise his hands in the air and say, “someone has to steer!”

You know there are many stories that could be told tonight about Alan, and trust me there are many… but Alan is much more than all these stories.

Alan is truly one of the classiest curlers to ever wear the Nova Scotia Colours.  Alan is not only a great curler but he is an even better person.  Over the last month I have been talking to the curlers of Nova Scotia as I run into them and have asked their thoughts of Alan Darragh and the words that I have hearing a lot are… Pride… Respect… Legend… Class Act… Professional & Empty Gas Tank.  But there is one quote from a NS Curler that I keep coming back to as I was writing this speech.

“Alan is one of the few great performers, role models, professionals in our game, he continues to show us his longevity every time he steps on the ice.”  Alan even played an hour of a semi final a couple years ago during a heart attach… and you know to think if Alan had just played faster over his entire career… he could have avoided that whole situation!

Ladies & Gentlemen, it is with great honour that The MacPhee Family is able to induct Alan Darragh into the Nova Scotia Curling Hall of Fame!

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