The finalists for the Ferd Hayward Senior Male Athlete of the Year Award include runner Colin Fewer, curler Brad Gushue and rugby player Rod Snow.

The finalists for the Elizabeth Swan Senior Female of the Year Award include rugby player Charlene Barter, soccer player Laura Breen and basketball player Katherine Quackenbush.

The finalists for the Joe Mullins Junior Male Athlete of the Year Award include tennis player Kendrick Au, Adam Paul of rugby and figure skater Joey Russell.

The finalists for the Margaret Davis Junior Female Athlete of the Year Award include volleyball player Maura Hayes, swimmer Katarina Roxon and Victoria Thistle of basketball.

The finalists for the John Drinkwater Coach of the Year Award include Michael Bursey of gymnastics, Pat Parfrey of rugby and Paul Power of rowing.

The finalists for the Graham Snow Executive of the Year Award include Mel Osmond of 5-pin bowling, Judy Pittman of soccer and Beverly White of gymnastics.

The finalists for the Edward Brown Team of the Year Award include Kelly�s Pub Junior Canadians softball team, the Brad Gushue Curling Team and the Rock Rugby Team.

Sport Newfoundland and Labrador President Tom Godden says, "Once again this year, the quality and number of submissions made it a difficult task for our selection committee. 2006 has been a tremendous year for athletic accomplishments for our province and all finalists are very well deserving."

Awards chair Trevor Paine commented that "Our province has witnessed some memorable sporting achievements in the year 2006. Sport Newfoundland and Labrador is extremely excited about new programs, new direction and sporting initiatives, including the new Provincial Training Centre, that will see our province move in a very positive direction."

The Sport Newfoundland and Labrador Annual Awards Dinner will take place on Saturday, March 31, at The Colonnade, St. John�s beginning at 7:00 p.m. Individuals interested in purchasing tickets for this year�s event are asked to contact the Sport Newfoundland and Labrador office either by telephone 709-576-4932 or e-mail sportnl@sportnl.ca. Tickets are $25 each and should be purchased in advance.

The Senior Male Athlete of the Year finalists include runner Colin Fewer of St. John�s with his year being capped off with a birth on the Canadian National Team. He was also winner of The Telegram 10 Mile Road Race, the most prestigious race in the province. Curler Brad Gushue of St. John�s with his 2006 year highlighted with an Olympic Gold Medal in Turino, Italy. Rugby player Rod Snow of Paradise exhibited star performance in winning the Rugby World Cup Qualifying match for Team Canada against the USA in August 2006, scoring a try in front of his home crowd at the Swilers Rugby Complex.

The Senior Female Athlete of the Year finalists include rugby player Charlene Barter, of St. John�s, was captain of the Rock women�s rugby team who attended their second successive National tournament in August 2006. Charlene demonstrated an all-star performance when the Rock women recorded a first-ever win by a Newfoundland women�s team at a National tournament by beating Manitoba. She was selected to the National

Rugby Festival Senior Women�s All Star Team. Soccer Player Laura Breen, of St. John�s, has in a very short period of time established herself as a premier female soccer player in Newfoundland and Labrador. On the national scene, Laura led her Memorial University Team in scoring and led the team to the semi-finals in Atlantic University play. Katherine Quackenbush, of St. John�s, led the MUN Sea~Hawks in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals, the only player to ever lead the Sea~Hawks in all four categories in the same season. Last year, she averaged 14.3 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game.

The Junior Male Athlete of the Year finalists for 2006 tennis player Kendrick Au of St. John�s who is one of the top tennis players to ever come out of Newfoundland and Labrador. He is ranked top eight in Canada U18 and is a National level 6.0 player. He was the provincial champion for U18 Boys. Rugby player Adam Paul of St. John�s was a regular member of the Rock, the Rugby Canada Super League Champions for the second successive year. He was also starting scrum half for the CSCA Atlantic Barbarians U21 versus Niagara and Ontario. At the national level, Adam was starting scrum half for Canada U19 in the IRB U19 World Cup in Dubai in April 2006. Figure skater Joey Russell of Labrador City was the 2006 Skate Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Junior Men�s Champion. He was a member of the 2006 Skate Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Senior A Team and was also a member of the 2006 Skate Canada Newfoundland and Labrador Canadians Team. On the international scene, Joey placed fourth at the 2006 International Skating Union Junior Grand Prix in Budapest, Hungary and 11th at the 2006 International Skating Union Junior Grand Prix in Oslo, Norway.

The Junior Female Athlete of the Year finalists for 2006 include volleyball player Maura Hayes of St. John�s who was a member of the volleyball team that won gold at VolleyFest Tier 1 2006, the 15 and Under Provincial, the 16 and Under Provincial, the 18 and Under Provincial, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games. Maura was named all-star at the 16 and Under Eastern Canadian Championships. She was a member of Team Canada 16 and Under National Youth Team 2006, the youngest member of the team and the only athlete named to the National Team in Atlantic Canada. Swimmer Katarina Roxon of Stephenville set four senior national records in long course swimming in the 50M breast stroke, the 100M breast stroke, the 200M breast stroke, and the 1500M freestyle. She also set three senior national records in short course swimming in the 50M breast stroke, the 100M breast stroke, and the 200M breast stroke. Katarina is ranked eighth in the world in the 100M breast stroke. Basketball player Victoria Thistle of St. John�s was named most valuable player of the local Division I Ladies Basketball league. At the national level, Victoria was the Sea~Hawks second leading scorer. With the Sea~Hawks, Victoria averaged eight points and 4.5 rebounds a game and 15 minutes of playing time.

The Coach of the Year finalists for 2006 include gymnastics coach Michael Bursey of St. John�s. In the 2006 gymnastics season, Michael�s athletes realized tremendous success. Mike was awarded the 2006 Gymnastics Newfoundland and Labrador Coach of the Year Award, the 2006 Campia Gymnastics Competitive Coach of the Year Award, and the 2006 Mount Pearl Sport Alliance Coach of the Year Award. He was named as Men�s Coach for the 2007 Canada Winter Games Team. Rugby Coach Pat Parfrey of St. John�s was head coach of Rugby Canada Super League team, The Rock, winning the eastern division title and subsequently the Super League (National) final for the second time in successive years. Nationally, Pat Parfrey developed two senior national men�s team representatives in the 2006 season through the quality of his coaching at the Super League Level. Rowing coach Paul Power of St. John�s coached 12 crews to provincial titles, accomplishing five provincial time records, at the Provincial Time Trials in St. John�s. At the Provincial Ergometer Championships, Paul coached both men and women to wins. He also coached many successful crews at the Atlantic Championships in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, garnering seven gold, seven silver, and five bronze. Paul was named 2006 Provincial Rowing Coach of the Year and 2006 Rowing Coach of the Year for Atlantic Canada.

The Executive of the Year finalists Mel Osmond of St. John�s served as president of the Newfoundland and Labrador 5-Pin Bowlers� Association. In this capacity, he was the Tournament Head for three provincial competitions. Mel served as liaison, tournament head, and tournament statistician for the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games. At the national level, Mel served as co-chairperson of the 2006 Canadian OPEN Championships in St. John�s. Judy Pittman of St. Lawrence served as president of the St. Lawrence Soccer Association. In that capacity, she was responsible for coordinating $40,000 in fundraising for the Challenge Cup team to travel to British Columbia. At the provincial level, her responsibilities included Challenge Cup (Provincial Champs 2007), Intermediate (BPSA Champs 2006), Minor (Provincial U-16B Championships), four minor players on provincial teams, and coordinating the hosting of the Provincial U-14A.

Beverly White of Gander became President of the Airials Gymnastics Club in 2005/06 and has served this club well, actively pursuing new challenges and making the club more visible in the community. Beverly has played a big role in the increase in membership and the improvement of the quality of programming. On a provincial level, Beverly serves on Gymnastics Newfoundland and Labrador�s Executive as secretary and participates in the organization�s subcommittees.

The Team of the Year finalists include Kelly�s Pub Junior Canadians who placed second at the 2006 Senior Men�s Provincials. They won the gold medal at the 2006 Junior Men�s Nationals in Quebec, giving Newfoundland and Labrador its first gold medal at the juniors in over 30 years. Two of the players on the team were selected to the all-star team.

Team Gushue was Olympic Gold Medalist at the Winter Games in Torino, Italy, giving Canada its first-ever Olympic gold medal in men�s curling. They were champions at the Swiss Cup Basel in Basel, Switzerland, a finalist at the 2006 Tim Horton Invitational in Brantford, Ontario, and quarter-finalists at the Bear Mountain Classic in Victoria, British Columbia. Team Gushue was named World Curling Tour Team of the Year and Canadian Press Team of the Year. The Rock won the Rugby Canada Super League eastern division title 6-0. They went on to win the Rugby Canada Super League, comprehensively beating the Saskatchewan Prairie Fire in the final for the second successive year. Ten players on the Rock represented Canada East at the inaugural North American 4 tournament. This tournament was designed by the International Rugby Board as a stepping stone to full international rugby and a precursor for a professional league in North America. Six Rock players represented Rugby Canada in international matches during 2006.

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Media contact:
Troy Croft
Executive Director
709-576-4932
troy@sportnl.ca