Sport BC’s Virtual 54th Annual Athlete of the Year Awards

For Immediate Release – March 19, 2021 – (Vancouver, BC)

Sport BC will be celebrating the 54th Annual Athlete of the Year Awards virtually on Thursday, March 25, 2021.

The event is a pre-taped show hosted by CBC’s Scott Russell and will recognize the province’s best in amateur sport including athletes, coaches, teams, and officials for outstanding performances in their sport over the 2019 season.

Each finalist was nominated by their Provincial or Multi-Sport Organization, High School, College, or University. The Selection Committee, led by long-serving Chair Bernie Pascall, included a diverse group of highly experienced British Columbia sport leaders and media members.

“While our celebration was delayed, the Virtual Athlete of the Year Awards will be a true celebration of sport in our province, the recipients represent an exceptional 2019 in BC sport and we would like to thank everyone for their patience in announcing our winners. We congratulate all of our finalists and the organizations they represent”, shares Sport BC’s President and CEO, Rob Newman. “We look forward to celebrating with the sport community on March 25.”

An additional six awards will be presented at the ceremony including the Best of BC, KidSport BC Community Champion, Harry Jerome Comeback, Daryl Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award and In Her Footsteps Honourees.

Athlete with a Disability
Logan Leach (Lumby) Adaptive Snowsports
Nathan Reich (Victoria) Athletics
Thomas Venos (Anmore) Wheelchair Tennis

College Athlete of the Year
Rachel Beauchamp (Douglas) – Basketball
Reid Marriott (Douglas) – Volleyball
Karoline Tormena (VIU) - Volleyball

Female Coach of the Year
Lynn Kanuka (Surrey) – Athletics
Christine Wong (Vancouver) – Golf
Katie Yuris (Trail) – Hockey

Male Coach of the Year
Chris Macdonald (Vancouver) - Golf
Adam Maglio (Nelson) – Hockey
Doug Reimer (Vancouver) – Volleyball

High School Female Athlete of the Year
Madelyn Hettinga (Kelowna) – Multi-Sport
Deja Lee (Semiahmoo) – Basketball
Jasneet Nijjar (Queen Elizabeth) - Athletics

High School Male Athlete of the Year
Diego Maffia (Oak Bay) – Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball
Uyi Ologhola (Holy Cross) - Football
Demetri Patterson (Rockridge) Football

Junior Female Athlete of the Year
Emily Johnston (Comox) - Cycling
Camryn Rogers (Richmond) - Athletics
Wendy Zhang (Richmond) - Badminton

Junior Male Athlete of the Year
Fernando Aguilera (West Vancouver) – Karate
Aiden Longcroft-Harris (Victoria) – Triathlon
Carter Woods (Cumberland) – Mountain Biking

Senior Female Athlete of the Year
Rachel Cliff (Vancouver) – Athletics
Sara Groenewegen (White Rock) – Softball
Kristen Tsai (Vancouver) – Badminton

Senior Male Athlete of the Year
Evan Dunfee (Richmond) – Athletics
Brian Maxwell (Burnaby) – Archery
Scott Tupper (Vancouver) – Field Hockey

University Athlete of the Year
Anna Mollenhauer (UVIC) – Field Hockey
Markus Thormeyer (UBC) - Swim
Kiera Van Ryk (UBC) - Volleyball

Team of the Year
Team BC Women (Victoria) – Hockey
UBC Women (Vancouver) – Volleyball
VIU Mariners Women (Nanaimo) - Volleyball

Master Athlete of the Year
Myrtle Acton (Sooke) – Athletics
Keith Evans (Sydney) – Triathlon
Cathy Zeglinski (Whistler) – Mountain Biking

Official of the Year
Ulf Schuetze (Victoria) - Triathlon
Jeff Thomson (Vancouver) - Gymnastics
Trevor Walmsley (Vancouver) - Karate

Highlights from the awards with be shared through our social media channels starting at 6:30pm on March 25 and then the show will be posted to view on March 26.

Social Media: We also invite you to follow along on our social media:
@SportBC #SportBCAOY