Regional athletic award recipients shine

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While the spotlight at the Canadian Sports Awards was on the winners of the National Tom Longboat Award and the National Aboriginal Coaching Award, there are a number of other Aboriginal athletes and coaches that have received recognition at the regional level.

A total of 28 regional awards were handed out for 2001, including 13 regional Aboriginal Coaching Awards and 15 regional Tom Longboat Awards.

The regional recipients of the 2001 Tom Longboat Awards include in the female division badminton player Holly Anderson from Makkovik, Labrador; boxer Robin Beaulieu from Fort Smith, N.W.T.; basketball player Denise Wilson from Nanaimo, B.C.; hockey goalie Kayla Narvie from Eel River Bar First Nation, N.B.; hockey player Fallon Head from James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan; and national award winner, wrestler Tara Hedican from Guelph, Ont.

In the male division, the regional recipients for 2001 were power lifter Paul McDonald from Conne River, Nfld.; soccer and volleyball player Craig Gagnon form Mayo, Yukon; hockey player Brandon Nolan from St. Catherine's, Ont.; cross country distance runner Jason Loutitt from Winnipeg, Man.; dog musher Jason Baxter from Inuvik, N.W.T.; hockey player Matt Simonson from Eel River Bar First Nation, N.B.; wrestler Jonathon Rice from Kahnawake, Que.; wrestler Tony Eetuk from Coral Harbor, Nunavut; and national award winner, soccer player Shawn Bobb from North Delta, B.C.

Female regional recipients of the 2001 Aboriginal Coaching Award include volleyball coach Colleen Lambert from Conne River, Nfld.; rifle shooting coach Pauline Frost Hanberg from Dawson City, Yukon; soccer coach Dorothy Jean Paul from Saanichton, B.C.; volleyball coach Geraldine Jacobs from Cornwall Island, Ont.; snowshoeing coach Liz Wright from Fort McPherson, N.W.T.; hockey coach Karen Narvie from Eel River Bar First Nation, N.B.; and national award winner, hockey coach Jill Mathez from Winnipeg, Man.

The male regional recipients of the 2001 Aboriginal Coaching Awards were softball coach Max Winters from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador; archery coach Sam Johnston from Teslin, Yukon; hockey coach Hubert Paul Jr. from St. Mary's First Nation, N.B.; hockey coach Ben Berlind from Prince George, B.C.; basketball coach Mel Mercredi from Prince Albert, Sask.; and national award winner, volleyball coach Bob Kowal from Kenora, Ont.

With 13 member sport bodies involved in the Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC), a maximum number of 26 regional nominees for each national award can be put forward for consideration each year, for a total of 52 nominees. This year's roster of 28 regional nominees falls far short of that total.

"The awards are still fairly new, and gaining awareness of the nomination process, it's just going to take some time for it to get its momentum," said Gina Doxtator, ASC program manager. "I think it's just the awareness and the promotion of the awards that really needs to grow. And hopefully that will happen, perhaps with a corporate sponsor at some point. That's something we're pursuing."

The National Aboriginal Coaching Award was established by the ASC in 1999, the same year the organization took over coordination of the Tom Longboat Award from the Assembly of First Nations, and broadened the scope of the award to include not only First Nations athletes, but all Aboriginal athletes.