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Kelowna  

A night for local athletics

Athletes, parents and fans of local athletics packed the Rotary Centre for the Arts Wednesday night for the 2016 Community Sports Hero Awards Reception.

Twenty awards were given out to people of all ages, who are involved in all types of sports.

All of the award recipients were nominated by someone in the community and then voted on by the City of Kelowna and Pacific Sport, a non-profit group that promotes sport in the region.

“The evening’s about recognizing those people,” said Brad Duquette, communications lead with Pacific Sport. “All ages, all levels. It’s very open.”

Kelowna’s mayor Colin Basran attended the event and handed out the awards. The first ten went to ‘Sport Hero’ volunteers, followed by nine ‘Athletic Excellence Award’ recipients.

The night was moderated by Pacific Sport executive director Shaunna Taylor and Downtown Kelowna’s Ryan Watters. The crowd was treated to a number of Watter’s sport-themed puns throughout the evening.

The ‘Sport Hero’ category recognized the volunteers that keep athletics as strong as they are in the Okanagan.

Many recipients were cheered on as they walked to the stage to accept their award, to a song they had chosen themselves.

Some song choices elicited laughter from the crowd. Ken Boe, who received an award for his part in growing rugby in the Okanagan, walked down to the song, ‘Mr. Bojangles,’ while Paul Thiessen, awarded for his extensive volleyball coaching career, walked down to Van Halen’s volleyball-appropriate ‘Jump.’

The Athletic Excellence Awards were given to nine active athletes who are participating at a variety of levels: nationally, provincially, collegiately, at world championships and in Iron Man competitions.

Several athletes weren’t at the event, as they were overseas playing the sports they had received the award for.

A final Sport Hosting Award was given to the BC Community Football Association for the organization’s work in raising the region’s reputation for hosting sporting events.

The event was capped off by recognizing the young athletes who will be participating in the BC Winter Games in Penticton at the end of the month.

Wednesday’s award recipients were as follows:

Athletic Excellence Award recipients:

Tekarra Banser – Biathlon

Hannah Bennison – Athletics

Olivia Gran – Figure Skating

Kailin Jones – Volleyball

Riley McLean – Para-swimming

Ryan Moffat – Alpine Skiing

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe – Basketball

Heather Wurtele – Triathlon

 

Sport Hero Award recipients:

Dan Bernheisel – Basketball

Ken Boe – Rugby

George Curran – Rugby

Scott Jacobsen – Soccer

Ben Macauley – Football

Todd Russell – Baseball

Paul Thiessen – Volleyball

Johnny Vesterinen – Tennis

Mike Walsh – Athletics

Travis Wray – Lacrosse



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