Athletes, coaches and community members honoured at Northwest Alberta Sports Excellence Awards

· Developmental Coach of the Year

· Female Athlete of the Year

· Junior Female Athlete of the Year

· Male Athlete of the Year

· Junior Male Athlete of the Year

· Team of the Year

· Sport Event of the Year

· Outstanding Official

· Unsung Hero

· Sport Builder

· Community Sportsmanship

The night was filled with guests and speakers from across the Peace Region, expressing and admiring the work that nominees had put in during year.

Kobe Grocholski took home Junior Male Athlete of the Year.

He competes in Athletics & Cross Country Running and had a strong showing in many important events this season. Grocholski talked about winning the award.

“It was a big surprise actually, I didn’t think I was going to win. There was a lot of big competitors I was going up against and it’s a huge honour.”

The Coach of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year award went to two guys who know each other well.

Luis Martinez and MMA, Taekwondo & Kickboxing coach, along with his student Ian Stoby, an MMA athlete both took home the honours.

Martinez and Stoby both talked about the thrill of receiving the awards.

“It was an amazing feeling, to me everybody won tonight, including the nominees,” said Martinez who was nominated for the award by his daughter.

“I was pretty surprised, and it means a lot winning Athlete of the Year. It’s nice getting recognition for all the hard work I’ve done over the years,” said Stoby.

The story of the night belonged to Mary-Helen Hopkins, who was nominated and won Female Athlete of the Year at the age of 74.

Hopkins has been a competitive swimmer since 1958 and still takes part and travels to swimming competitions across the country to this date.

Hopkins explained how she reacted when she won the award and expressed her gratitude.

“It was absolute shock. The other swimmers that were nominated can swim circles around me, but I think because I’m old I do well at my age so I’m glad I’m a representative for older athletes because I feel that a person can be an athlete at any age,” said Hopkins.

When asked about what keeps her going, Hopkins answer was quite blunt.

“Coffee!” Hopkins said jokingly. “For me swimming is like taking vitamins or brushing your teeth, it’s just something that I have to do. It’s the easiest thing for me to do because I swim better than I walk.”

This was the sixth annual Northwest Alberta Sports Excellence Awards.

Karna Germsheid with the Grande Prairie Regional Sport Connection spoke to the success of the evening.

“It shouldn’t surprise me, but it always does, and people are still coming in droves. When you’re celebrating your peeps, you’re celebrating your peeps and nothing’s going to hold you back,” said Germsheid after a successful evening and sold-out event.

Germsheid also mentioned that the Sport Connection is looking to add Adult Try-It Days in the near future, something the organization has had success with in the past with Youth Try-It Days.

Here is a full list of the award winners:

· Luis Martinez – Coach of the Year

· Krista Mitchell – Sportbuilder

· Tara Malezko – Community Sportsmanship

· CJ Senkow – Outstanding Official

· Doug Vandemark – Unsung Hero

· Alain Johnson – Developmental Coach of the Year

· Kobe Grocholski – Junior Male Athlete of the Year

· Jordan Greber – Junior Female Athlete of the Year

· Mary-Helen Hopkins – Female Athlete of the Year

· Ian Stoby – Male Athlete of the Year

· MD of Greenview Men’s and Women’s Canadian Fast Pitch Championships – Event of the year

· Northern Lights AAA Baseball – Team of the Year

by Shane Clausing

Athletes, coaches and community members honoured at Northwest Alberta Sports Excellence Awards

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