The following is being distributed at the request of School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador:

School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador Announces Annual Award Winners for 2012-13 School Year

School Sports Newfoundland Labrador held its annual awards banquet this past Friday at the Capital Hotel in St. John’s. The provinces top student athletes and coaches for the 2012-13 school year were honoured at the event.

Each of the regions in the province awarded the regional recognition award to an individual most deserving in their region. These individuals have made a contribution to the school sports programs in their region over the last number of years. The regional recognition award winners are as follows:

St. John's	Fred Blair, Mount Pearl
Avalon	Mike Gambin, Laval High, Placentia
Avalon West	Jamie Loveless, Tricentia Academy, Arnold's Cove
Burin Peninsula	James Strang, Holy Name of Mary, Lawn
Central East	Dave Eddy, Jane Collins Academy, Hare Bay
Central West	Ryan Kelley, Valmont Academy, Kings Point
Western	Lynn Macdonald, Stephenville High
Northern Peninsula	Michael White, French Shore Academy, Port Saunders
Southern Labraodor	Wayne Halbot, Labrador Straits Academy, Lanse au Clair
Northern Labrador	Henry Worthman, BL Morrison, Postville

The Honor Award is awarded to individuals based on a long history of service at the regional and provincial level. In 2012, there are two Honor Award recipients, Steve Harris from Glovertown Academy and Bob Dyckson from Gander Collegiate. Both are retiring after 30 year teaching careers.

Harris is currently the regional director for the Central East region and a member of the Board of Directors of School Sport NL. He’s held that position for the past 15 years. Throughout his 30-year teaching career he has been involved in school sports at every level from coach, convener, regional director to board member. Over the years he has developed a diverse program at his school and has been involved in coaching boys and girls basketball and volleyball, girls softball, girls ball hockey, girls ice hockey, track and field, cross country running and badminton. Under his leadership the Glovertown teams have won numerous regional, provincial and sportsmanship awards.

Mr. Dyckson has been the physical education teacher and athletic director at Gander Collegiate since 1983. Since that time he has been the girls volleyball coach at the school, but over the years, he has also been involved in coaching softball, table tennis, cross country running, track and field and basketball. He has hosted regional and provincial tournaments in softball, soccer, hockey, basketball, badminton, table tennis, cross country skiing, volleyball and curling. He has also served as the Zone President for many years.

The Coaching Service Award is presented in recognition of a long career of coaching high school sports and development of a sound athletic program. The two Coaching Service Award winners for 2012 are Gerard Bennett from Stephenville Middle School and Phil Griffiths from St. Kevins High in the Goulds.

Mr. Bennett has been a very successful coach over the past 30 years for Stephenville High School. He has been primarily involved in the sports of wrestling and cross country running. Under his coaching, Stephenville has won seven male and two female wrestling provincial championships. He has helped develop Stephenville into a powerhouse in the sports of cross country running, winning an incredible 21 provincial banners in the four divisions since 2000.

Mr. Griffiths has been a basketball coach in a number of schools throughout his teaching career. He began his teaching and coaching at Elwood High in 1982 and coach basketball and volleyball teams to provincial silver medals. He continued his success as a coach at Roncalli High in Avondale winning provincial championships and silver medals in girls basketball. His greatest success came as a coach for Dunne Memorial in St. Marys winning three provincial championships in boys and girls basketball. He is currently the Sr. Boys Basketball coach at St. Kevins High in the Goulds. Mr. Griffiths has also served as a provincial level basketball referee and a member of the Board of Directors for School Sports NL.

As retiring members of the Board of Directors, Phil Griffiths and Steve Harris also received Executive Service Awards.

The top student-athletes of the year are recognized with the Br. G. I. Moore Award and Subway Scholarships. Subway provides scholarships in the amount of $750, $500 and $250. Students are judged on their athletic success over a number of sports for their three years of high school as well as the academic success. The 2012 Student Athletes of the Year are both from Stephenville High School – Jillian Forsey and David Alexander. The runners-up are Meghan Clarke from Mount Pearl Sr High and Abby Penton from Stephenville High for the girls and Jordi Slaney from St. Lawrence Academy and Kyle Burt from Valmont Academy in Kings Point for the boys.

Jillian Forsey has been the dominant force in cross country running and track and field throughout her high school career. She has been the individual high school cross country running champion for six years, and has helped her Stephenville teams to team championships along the way. This past year she was crowned national junior cross country running champion and represented Canada at the World Championships. She has also been very successful in badminton and cross country skiing, winning numerous provincial titles and competing on the national stage.

David Alexander has been an outstanding all round athlete for Stephenville High School throughout his years of high school. He has been a leader on his cross country running, track and field and soccer teams, leading them to regional and provincial titles. His coaches have consistently ranked him as one of the top players on the team, regardless of the sport.

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Media contact:
Karen Richard
School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador
Executive Director
709-729-2795
karen@sportnl.ca 

2013 06 03             12:15 p.m.