Sport Newfoundland and Labrador Announces Annual Award Winners
ST. JOHN’S – Sport Newfoundland and Labrador has announced the winners for this year’s Provincial Annual Awards. While an in person Annual Awards Gala will not take place in 2021 due to COVID-19, a celebratory video has been launched this evening to acknowledge and pay tribute to our tremendous, Athletes, Coaches, Officials, Administrators and Volunteers.
“Sport NL’s annual awards celebrate the highest level of sporting achievement in Newfoundland and Labrador. As we continue to navigate through COVID-19 we will be utilizing social media again this year to celebrate the exceptional performances by our athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers that helped put this province on the map.” said Chris Schwartz, President, Sport Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Provincial Annual Awards recognize the best athletic achievements in the past year. The Awards comprise nine categories: Senior Male and Female Athlete of the Year, Junior Male and Female Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, Executive of the Year, Official of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. Finalists from each category have been selected by Sport Newfoundland and Labrador’s selection committee, from a list of nominees. The list of winners can be found below and their biographies are in the backgrounder attached.
Junior Female Athlete of the Year (Margaret Davis Memorial Award):
Megan Skinner of St. John’s (Gymnastics)
Junior Male Athlete of the Year (Joseph P. Mullins Memorial Award):
Nathan Young of Torbay (Curling)
Executive of the Year (Graham Snow Memorial Award):
Doug Kirby of St. John’s (Soccer)
Volunteer of the Year (Frank W. Graham Memorial Award):
Kristyn Coley of St. John’s (Baseball)
Coach of the Year (John Drinkwater Memorial Award):
Allison Kirby of Conception Bay South (Gymnastics)
Team of the Year (Edward P. Browne Memorial Award):
Team Gushue of St. John’s (Curling)
Official of the Year Award:
Chris Bishop of St. John’s (Hockey)
Senior Female Athlete of the Year (Elizabeth Swan Memorial Award):
Maggie Connors of St. John’s (Hockey)
Senior Male Athlete of the Year (Ferd Hayward Memorial Award):
Alex Newhook of St. John’s (Hockey)
Sport Newfoundland and Labrador will be celebrating this year’s Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame Inductees at a later date. The hope is that the community will have the opportunity to physically come together when it is safe to do so.
Our Annual Awards celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of Athletes, Coaches, Officials, Administrators and Volunteers that drive the success of the Newfoundland and Labrador’s sport community,” said Troy Croft, Executive Director of SportNL. “Given the circumstances we have faced over this past year, the finalists and winners are a shining example to the resiliency of our sporting community.
Sport Newfoundland and Labrador is a volunteer organization committed to the promotion and advancement of amateur sport throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Junior Female Athlete of the Year (Margaret Davis Memorial Award):
Megan Skinner of St. John’s (Gymnastics)
Megan Skinner had a landmark season in 2020. Megan qualified to attend Elite Canada in Calgary where she had a great two-day competition finishing in the top-ten all-around and winning a bronze medal on balance beam. Following her performance, she was named to the Canadian High-Performance list becoming the first gymnast from Newfoundland and Labrador to do so. Megan’s success continued at the L’International Gymnix where she won a pair of silver medals on vault and floor and finished 3rd all-around. Her strong season performances, lead to an invitation to a national team training camp.
Junior Male Athlete of the Year (Joseph P. Mullins Memorial Award):
Nathan Young of Torbay (Curling)
Nathan Young has been curling for the last 14 years and skips his team out of the St. John’s Curling Club. Nathan and his team were the U18 Provincial Champions in 2020, missing out on the Canadian Championships as they were cancelled due to COVID. Nathan was honored with an Honorary Lifetime Membership by the St. John’s Curling Association in recognition of his curling accomplishments representing Canada at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. At the Youth Olympics Nathan had great success as he skipped the Mixed Team event going undefeated in the round robin, and just missed a win in the quarterfinals. In the mixed doubles event Nathan and his teammate, Laura Nagy, won the Gold Medal going undefeated in 6 games to do so
Executive of the Year (Graham Snow Memorial Award):
Doug Kirby of St. John’s (Soccer)
Doug Kirby has contributed to the financial management of the NLSA for the last ten years. Through Doug’s financial savvy, the NLSA has been able to ensure that all member focused programs are consistently offered to the NLSA membership. As the Chair of the Finance Committee, Doug has continually steered the NLSA towards making sound financial decisions while also ensuring the integrity of membership programs is maintained. He went above and beyond expectations for 2020 primarily with the economic downturn associated with COVID-19. Doug’s insight into the intricacies of the financial systems is a primary reason the NLSA was able to financially manage the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Volunteer of the Year (Frank W. Graham Memorial Award):
Kristyn Coley of St. John’s (Baseball)
A key volunteer for a number of years, St. John’s native Kristyn Coley has been instrumental in the growth and development of baseball in Newfoundland. Serving in a number of capacities, Kristyn gives her utmost time and devotion to everything she does. Administratively, Kristyn serves a number of executive and committee capacities at the Provincial level for Baseball NL including serving as the metro director of Baseball NL, and sitting on 2 subcommittees to further the growth and development of baseball in this province. She also serves as part of the player development process as a coach in the Baseball NL Female High Performance Program.
Coach of the Year (John Drinkwater Memorial Award):
Allison Kirby of Conception Bay South (Gymnastics)
Allison Kirby is a familiar face on the Gymnastic Coaching scene in Newfoundland and Labrador. Allison holds a Level 4 WAG- International coaching certificate and has been actively coaching gymnastics for 24 years, specializing in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. She has coached at the Local, Provincial, National and International levels; although the Covid-19 pandemic has cancelled many competitions, Allison did not let that prevent her from working with her athletes. She developed online training program for athletes as well as organized virtual mock competitions and clinics. In 2020 Allison had 20 athletes qualify for Atlantic’s and 15 for Eastern’s; she coached NL’s first ever gymnast to the Canadian High- Performance list and had athletes with first and second placings in the Canadian Aspire level at Gymnix. On an international level, 4 of Allison’s athletes qualified for Nationals Aspire Camp and she coached her team at the Sand Dollar Invitational in Orlando where they won 8 medals.
Team of the Year (Edward P. Browne Memorial Award):
Team Gushue of St. John’s (Curling)
Team Gushue had another strong year competing in all levels of competition even with the reduced events due to Covid-19. First place finishes included the 2020 NL Tankard, 2020 Tim Hortons Brier, Dave Jones Stanhope Simpson Insurance Mayflower Spiel, and Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic Spiel. Team Gushue was also able to attend two of the top World Curling Tour events, Mecure Perth Masters and the Meridian Canadian Open
Official of the Year Award:
Chris Bishop of St. John’s (Hockey)
Chris Bishop has been officiating for 26 years and has been on the ice at all levels of hockey. He has demonstrated knowledge of the game, and his leadership and composure lead him to officiate at the highest level. He is a program mentor to young officials on the Avalon and is one of the program’s chief supervisors. Chris provided chief clinic instruction for new officials and officials level 1 through 4. He also instructed at several provincial officiating program of excellence clinics. It is his dedication to the program that makes a big impact on younger officials in the province. As an experienced Level 5 official, Chris will be considered for nomination to the Level 6 National High-Performance program. In 2020 Chris was a major part of the Officiating Program for Hockey NL. He is the go-to person for all areas of Hockey NL’s program, both on and off the ice.
Senior Female Athlete of the Year (Elizabeth Swan Memorial Award):
Maggie Connors of St. John’s (Hockey)
Maggie Connors a forward hailing from St. John’s had a very successful year at Princeton University. Completing her second season with the Princeton Tigers she played 33 games in which she had 22 goals, and 25 assists. In 2020, Maggie was also invited to Hockey Canada’s National Women’s Development Team Summer Camp.
Senior Male Athlete of the Year (Ferd Hayward Memorial Award):
Alex Newhook of St. John’s (Hockey)
Alex Newhook’s hard work and dedication on and off the rink provided a successful year for the talented hockey player. He was awarded the NCAA Hockey East Second Team, All- Rookie Team, Regular Season Champion, Rookie of the Year, and Second All- Star Team. He was also the first Boston College player to receive the NCAA Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year Award that is bestowed annually on the best first year player. Additionally, in 2020 Alex was selected for the Hockey Canada U20 World Junior Team that resulted in a silver medal finish.
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