School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador will hold its Annual General Meeting Friday and Saturday of this week at the Best Western Traveller Inn in St. John�s. Delegates representing schools from every part of the province will be in attendance. The decisions made at these meetings will set the course for School Sports for the next school year and in many cases, many years to come.

In light of the recent launch of the Provincial Government�s Recreation and Sport Strategy, Active, Healthy Newfoundland and Labrador, there will be much discussion around the directions suggested in the document, and how it will impact School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador, all its schools and the student-athletes in the province. According to SSNL President Gerald Wheeler, "This document provides a very strong framework to how all the partners involved in sports and recreation in the province can work together to improve programs for everyone. I am confident that our delegates and members, who were involved in various stages of the consultation process, will be very pleased with it. I anticipate a very bright future and active future for Newfoundland and Labrador schools."

Other items on the agenda deal with tournament issues, rule changes, and tournament allocations for the 2007-08 school year. Some contentious issues involve reclassification of some schools, and the re-alignment of classification figures for some sports. In particular, girls basketball, cross country running and the Fair Play tournaments will likely generate lively discussion. The Junior High Participation Nation program will be reviewed as well.

The SSNL board of directors consists of 14 members, 10 regional directors, elected by the schools in their region, and president and three vice-presidents elected by the delegates at AGM. This year elections will take place for vice-president junior high and president.

The annual awards banquet for SSNL takes place in conjunction with the AGM, Friday evening at the Colonnade, Pleasantville, St. John�s.

The outstanding student-athletes, coaches and administrators of school sport in the province will be honoured this Friday evening as School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador hold their Annual Awards Banquet. The Br. G.I. Moore Student-Athlete of the Year Awards, as well as the Coach of the Year Award, Coaching Service Awards, Honor Award and Regional Recognition Awards will be handed out at the Colonnade in Pleasantville.

The Br. G. I. Moore Student-Athlete of the Year goes to the graduating male and female student-athlete who have best combined academic and athletic success throughout their years in high school. Newfoundland Power has sponsored this award for many years with a $750 scholarship. The Male Student Athlete of the Year for 2007 is Scott Thorne from Clarenville High. He has been involved in softball, basketball and volleyball at Clarenville High. His greatest success has come in the sport of Volleyball where he has played provincially and at the national level. His involvement in basketball is not only as a player, but also as a referee and a minor coach. He captained his basketball team and was a member of the Clarenville team, which won a Provincial Sportsmanship banner. The runners-up for the male Student-Athlete of the Year are Justin Penney from St. Catherines Academy in Salmonier and Blair Roberts from Mountain Field Academy in Forteau.

The Br. G. I. Moore Female Student-Athlete of the Year is Peggy Wakeham from Ascension Collegiate in Bay Roberts. Although best known for her remarkable skills as a hockey player, Peggy is a tremendous all around athlete. Throughout her years at Ascension Collegiate, she has been a member of the ice hockey, track & field, basketball, soccer, ball hockey, badminton and cross-country running teams. This past year alone she helped her team to provincial gold medals in ice hockey, ball hockey and basketball. In addition to being on gold medals winning teams, she has also won provincial individual medals in badminton and track & field. She also finds time to volunteer as a coach and official in swimming and hockey, and for other community agencies. As a hockey player, Peggy Wakeham has played at the national level, and was recently a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Canada Games team. She will be continuing her education at the University of Vermont next year, where she has been awarded an academic scholarship in addition to her hockey scholarship. The runners-up for the Female Student Athlete of the Year are Mallory Clarke from St. Lawrence Academy and Jennifer Brown from Clarenville High.

James Loder is School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador�s Coach of the Year for 2007, as well as runner-up for the Honor Award. Mr. Loder has been coaching since 1976 and throughout the years he has coaches soccer, slo-pitch. cross country running, volleyball, basketball, hockey, track & field, badminton and ball hockey. This past year he successfully coached teams to three provincial championships - cross country running, 3A Girls Soccer and 2A Girls Basketball which he took over half way through the year as a replacement coach. The runners-up for the Coach of the Year are Mark Warren from Dorset Collegiate, Pilleys Island and Ed Jarvis from Carbonear Collegiate.

Th Coaching Service Award is presented to school coaches who have demonstrated a long committment and have had great success coaching high school athletes. This year�s recipients are Sean Cashin from Carbonear Collegiate, Ron Blair from Eric G. Lambert in Churchill Falls and Derek Tilley from Cape John Collegiate in LaScie. Mr. Cashin has teaching and coaching for 21 years in Plum Point, Harbour Grace and Carbonear. He has a successful girls basketball program in Plum Point and also introduced the sport of soccer to the school. He continued coaching both basketball and soccer with great success when he moved to Harbour Grace and Carbonear, claiming provincial titles in both sports. Sean Cashin was instrumental in the development of both the minor soccer and the minor basketball program in Harbour Grace - Carbonear area. He has been involved in school sports as an athletic director, coach, tournament convenor and regional director.

Derek Tilley has been a teacher for 31 years and been coaching the sport of softball for 25 years. The successes of the Cape John Collegiate softball program have been the result of his efforts over the years. Seventy per cent of the banners won at Cape John Collegiate were won by Tilley�s teams in the sport of softball. His emphasis has changed from one of win at all costs to one of Sportsmanship. This resulted in winning a Provincial Sportsmanship banner.

Ron Blair has coached 22 years, the last 10 years in Labrador in Makkovik and Churchill Falls. In Makkovik, he coached the boys volleyball to a silver medal provincially only one year after the first gymnasium opened. In his five years in Makkovik he coached volleyball, badminton and table tennis to five provincial championships and seven silver medals. He was the Coach of the Year runner-up two years in a row and was a winner as well. He continued his winning coaching ways when he made the move to Churchill Falls, winning provincial volleyball and table tennis championships.

Murray Fudge is the winner of the Honor Award for 2007. The Honor Award is awarded to the individual who has had a long service to school sports. He has been involved in the teaching profession for 31 years. Throughout his career he has coached basketball, cross country running, volleyball, track & field and softball. In each year he has coached at least one team and as many as five. He has been involved in the provincial and national level for track & field.

Regional Recognition Awards are awarded to an individual in each of the provinces 10 regions to recognize their contribution to school sports in their area. The following are the winners for 2007:

The Presidents Award is an awarded presented at the discretion of the executive board, to an individual, group or organization outside of the membership of SSNL who has contributed to enhancing school sports in the province. Kevin Higgins, sports reporter for The Beacon newspaper in Gander is the recipient for 2007. Mr. Higgins can be counted on to report on any of the school sports activities ongoing in the Central area. His reporting hilites the success of teams, the sportsmanship and the benefits of participating in a school sports program.

The School of the Year Awards are presented in three categories - 4A, 3A and 2A to the school with an outstanding program as evidenced by its participation, sportsmanship and success in SSNL activites. Points are tabulated throughout the year in the 12 sports offered by SSNL. The school with the most points at year end receive the School of the Year banner. The Schools of the Year for 2007 are

-30-

Media contact:
Karen Richard,
Executive Director
709-729-2795

2007 05 30                                              4:30 p.m.