Background

Following the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, the then-District of North Vancouver Mayor requested recommendations for recognition of outstanding athletic achievement. A North Vancouver Recreation and Culture (NVRC) report provided feedback from resident Olympians, current and former world-class athletes, and the Community Sport and Recreation Council. There was unanimous support for new initiatives to recognize community leaders and those that contribute to sport.

The North Shore Sport Awards Committee was established in 1997 by the City and District of North Vancouver and in 1998, the District of West Vancouver joined.

Mandate

To receive nominations and make recommendations for awards and other forms of recognition of those residents who contribute to the sporting life of the North Shore deemed to be appropriate, including an annual sports awards ceremony.

Objectives

• To make recommendations and establish guidelines for the recognition of outstanding achievement in sport.
• To ensure broad recognition of those connected with sport who bring honour to their community.
• To ensure the provision of an annual sport recognition event.
• To be financially self-sustaining without relying on local government funding.

Awards committee

The North Shore Sport Awards committee is mandated by the three North Shore municipal councils and supported by NVRC and West Vancouver Community Services staff.  

Committee members: Leslie Buchanan, Len Corben, Mark Fenn, Colleen Gray-Hewitt, Darcie Montgomery, Brent Mutis, Andy Prest, James Ray and Janet Rerecich. 

Selection committee

The selection committee is made up of representatives from North Vancouver Recreation & Culture, North Shore secondary school athletics association (NSSSAA), West Vancouver School District, North Vancouver School District, Cap U and the North Shore News.

Contact

Please email Darcie Montgomery

The 22nd annual North Shore Sport Awards event is Tuesday March 12, 2024 at 7:00pm in the West Vancouver Community Centre atrium.

Hosts

The hosts for this year's event are Sean Millington and Lesley Tomlinson. 

A person can be nominated in one category only. Categories are:

• Youth Female
  Females 18 years & under 
• Youth Male
  Males 18 years & under 
• Open Female
  Females 19-39 years 
• Open Male
  Males 19-39 years 
• Master Athlete
  Female or male 40 years and older
• Coach
  Only coaches who are National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) certified will be considered for recognition.
• Official
  Nominees to be considered will include those who, in the process of officiating, educate and encourage athletes and coaches to play fair, and spectators to demonstrate responsible behaviour.
• Community Sport Volunteer
  May include any volunteer community member, trainer, manager or administrator who has made a significant contribution to a sport organization on the North Shore.
• Comeback Award
  Any female or male athlete who has overcome a significant obstacle to return to a high level of competition, the recognition of which could inspire others who face similar or other obstacles.
• Team
  Any amateur team competing in an organized league. The phrase 'team' in these selections will not be interpreted as a group of individuals competitors (such as BC ski team) but limited to the commonly known team sports such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, etc.
• Para Athlete
  Any athlete living with a physical disability who has made a significant contribution to sport on the North Shore.
• Fair Play
  Any team or individual that demonstrates the values of good sportsmanship and fair play over a 'win at all costs' attitude during competition. Nominations will be considered that tell a verifiable story that modeled such values for others, and that could be used by coaches and parents to teach such values to young athletes.
• Jim Martin Leadership
  An athlete who was a secondary school student in the past year, who excels in the classroom, athletics and volunteers in their community.

How to nominate

The nomination period is now closed. 

If you have questions about the nomination process, please contact Darcie Montgomery.

Who can be nominated?

Nominate an athlete, coach, team, official or volunteer. All nominees must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Residency: All nominees must have a strong connection to the North Shore. For example this means born, living, lived or educated in North Vancouver or West Vancouver.
• Sport: All nominees should be considered amateur by the definition of the provincial or national sports organizations. Nominee achievements will be considered in their respective categories. Results will not be the only criteria for selection.
• Other: Awards will be based on performance and activity in the calendar year previous to the awards.
• A person can be nominated in one category only.
• To award a category, there must be a sufficient number of nominations.

Note: Finalists and winners will be selected based on their accomplishments and not the number of nominations received.

The nominees for the 22nd annual North Shore Sport Awards are: 

Master Athlete

Mike Dowling 

In 2023, Mike Dowling swam to podiums in eight swim meets and two running races. He travelled more than 1.1 million metres in the water and ran 1,336 kilometres on land. He did this in his 76th year. Not just contributing to his own trophy case, he volunteered at the North Shore Masters swim meet, helping to make it the most successful in the history of the event, while maintaining the organization’s website and communications.

Bill Mustaklim

In 2023, Bill Mustaklim earned the title of BC’s fastest 80-year-old. Running like a silver bullet, Mustaklim clocked a time of 17.37 seconds in the 80 to 84-year-old men’s 100-metre sprint at the 55+ BC Games. That won him one of four total gold medals, which included the 50-metre sprint, the 4 x 100-metre relay and the 4 x 400-metre relay.

Patty Szybunka 

Patty Szybunka can’t stop winning. In 2023 alone, the 65-year-old track veteran broke seven provincial track and field records, including the triple jump, long jump and 60-metre hurdles. At the BC Masters Indoor Championships in February 2023, Szybunka’s 11.57 second time in the 60-metre hurdle event broke a provincial record set in 2010, and made her second-fastest in the world. For her achievement, Szybunka received an honourable mention for athlete of the month from Canadian Masters Athletics. The North Vancouver powerhouse was unstoppable in 2023, winning every event she entered.

Senior Female  

Savannah Bauder 

Savannah Bauder charged her way to the head of the field in Canadian university rugby in 2023, claiming the U SPORTS women’s rugby player of the year award after leading the UBC Thunderbirds through an undefeated regular season. The fly half led the conference with 70 points in the season, which included seven tries, 16 converts and a rare drop goal, the first kicked in a U SPORTS game for several seasons. Savannah picked up more stream in the Canada West playoffs, scoring three tries in a dominant semifinal, before racking up all of UBC’s points in a 10-0 win for the Thunderbird’s fourth straight conference title. Bauder also starred for the U23 Women’s Team, helping Canada sweep against the U.S. team in Boston.

Natasha Wodak

Two-time Olympian, Natasha Wodak has been fighting for her third chance to race at the sport’s pinnacle event in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics this summer. Last year, Natasha, the Canadian record holder for the marathon, had several standout performances including finishing 15th in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships. The North Vancouverite also won her third National 10K Championships, her second-straight title at the 2023 ‘First Half’ Half Marathon in Vancouver, breaking her own record with a time of one hour 10 minutes and 16 seconds.

Alannah Yip    

In October, Alannah Yip made history as the first-ever Canadian athlete to score a medal in sport climbing at a major games competition. At the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Yip claimed a bronze medal in the boulder and lead competition. Yip climbed for Team Canada in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is aiming to qualify for the Summer Games in Paris this year.

Para Female Athlete

Tara Llanes 

In a short period of time, Tara Llanes has become a force on the wheelchair basketball court. After undefeated tournament play at the 2023 Parapan American Games, Llanes helped Team Canada make it to the final, but fell just short of gold with a nail-biting finish. The silver earned Canada a spot at an international tournament in Japan in April, where a top-four finish will qualify for the Paralympic Games in Paris. Previously, Llanes made her Paralympics debut at Tokyo 2020, after winning gold at the 2019 Parapan American Games. After an accident at a mountain bike race in 2007 left her paralyzed from the waist down, she threw herself into wheelchair basketball and became an advocate for adaptive mountain biking.

Spirit of Sport

Siann Montgomery and Pierce Burns

Siann Montgomery and Pierce Burns bring the same enthusiasm to their own competitions as they do to providing off ice support to the North Van Wolf Pack hockey team. Both have represented the North Shore in floor hockey at the Special Olympics BC, and excel in other sports as well. For the Wolf Pack, both dedicate four hours a night more than 30 times per season setting up directional and sponsor signage before every game, and takedown afterwards. Described as “the rocks” of the volunteer team, the Wolf Pack got a wake up call this season when neither could attend a game due to previous commitments.     

Youth Female  

Chloe Primerano

Simply put, she’s one of the best female junior hockey players on the planet. In January, Chloe Primerano was named MVP at the Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship – that’s despite Team Canada losing in an upset to Czechia in the semifinals. Also named top defender and all-star at the tournament, Primerano led the scoring sheet with eight goals and eight assists: a total of 16 points over six games. Earlier in the tourney, she became the first defender to ever score a hat trick at the event. After becoming the first-ever female player to be drafted to a Canadian Hockey League (CHL) team in 2022, Primerano has her sights set on the newly launched Professional Women’s Hockey League.

Eva Ruse 

In her six years at the school, Eva Ruse has become the most dominant female basketball and volleyball player in Mulgrave’s history. Ruse has been named Mulgrave’s top female athlete two years running, in both 2022 and 2023. For the first time ever, Mulgrave was crowned AA Provincial Champions last year, with Ruse leading the charge as the tournament MVP. Meanwhile, she was named first team all-star for volleyball both on the North Shore and at the provincial level. After a handful of offers from post-secondary institutions, the six-foot-two power forward has committed to play for the University of San Diego in the 2024 school year.

Marlena Tresnjo 

If anyone ever doubted Marlena Tresnjo, they need a lesson in jumping to conclusions. And who better to teach than Tresnjo herself, who’s currently No. 1 for high jump in female U18 and No. 2 in U20, according to Athletics Canada Rankings at the end of 2023. The 18-year-old athlete shone at track events throughout the season, picking up first in heptathlon at the BC U18 Championship in July, and second in the event at the U18 Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships in August. After graduating from Handsworth Secondary this spring, Tresnjo has been recruited to play for the University of Missouri, a division 1 athletic school.

Youth Male 

Connor Bedard 

“He’s been everything that everyone thought he was going to be, and he might even be better.” With the huge amount of hype surrounding Connor Bedard’s rookie season in the National Hockey League (NHL), you might think that quote could only be an exaggeration – if it weren’t coming from Wayne Gretzky himself. Bedard started 2023 being named tournament MVP at the world juniors, leading Canada to a second-straight medal. After making headlines for a seven-point game, he went on to set Team Canada records for career points and assists. After being the first pick in the NHL draft, Bedard looked instantly comfortable on NHL playing for the Blackhawks. Displaying intelligence, skill and leadership, the only major hitch in his rookie season was a broken jaw in January that saw him miss 14 games. As of February 29, Bedard had 17 goals, 23 assists and 40 points in 45 games.

Macklin Celebrini 

In step with a number of his North Vancouver hockey contemporaries, 17-year-old forward Macklin Celebrini has been putting on a show on the junior stage. As of January, Celebrini was sitting atop the mid-season draft ranking of North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Before an upset that eliminated Canada from the World Juniors, Celebrini led Team Canada with eight points in five games. He also leads his team at Boston University in goals, assists and points in his freshman season. As of February 29, Celebrini ranked third among U.S. college skaters, playing on a team that includes 13 players already drafted to the NHL.

Michael Scherk 

Michael Scherk capped off a strong season with a win in the senior men’s 110-metre hurdles at the 2023 Bell Canadian Track & Field Championships in September, adding the title of national champion to his athletic resume. After going undefeated through the season in the U20 division, he moved up to the senior division for the National Championships. He claimed the Canadian title with a time of 13.68, a personal best and more than half a second ahead of the second-place finisher. Hailing from the North Shore’s NorWesters Track & Field Club, Scherk is now attending Duke University as a freshman on the track and field team.

Para Male Athlete

Nathan Clement 

In August, para cyclist Nathan Clement became the world’s fastest on three wheels. At the 2023 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, the West Vancouver athlete took his first-ever international title during the men’s individual time trial. Riding at a speed of more than 30 kilometres per hour, Clement finished the 10.8-kilometre course in under 19 minutes. He also took first place in the time trial races at the Parapan American Games and UCI World Cup. After suffering a stroke as a young child, Clement went on to excel in youth soccer, and later swimming as an adult, representing Canada at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Official

Tyler Klenk

In 2023, Tyler Klenk was named Field Hockey BC Umpire of the Year, for his outstanding contributions to officiating the sport. Klenk currently leads an international panel of field hockey umpires and has officiated 61 international matches, at events including the Junior World Cup, Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic qualifiers. Klenk is the umpire manager at the West Vancouver Field Hockey Club, where he’s been a member since 2018. He’s also an education assistant at West Vancouver Secondary School.

Mark Pearce

If you watched the World Junior Hockey Championships in January, you likely saw Mark Pearce skating on the ice in black and white stripes. It’s his second year refereeing the international event, and has officiated for the Western Hockey League (WHL) Championship series in 2019, 2022 and 2023. Growing up in North Vancouver, Pearce’s referee career started at age 12. Now Pearce has been officiating in the WHL for 12 seasons, and doubles as a social studies teacher at Argyle Secondary.

Comeback

Taylor Dyck 

After breaking both her arms during training in January 2022, gymnast Taylor Dyck was back in school four days later with casts on both arms, from her fingers to her shoulders. She would undergo surgery twice that year, to correct the breaks and remove the rods in her arms, before returning to train that August. Starting at Flicka Gymnastics Club at age seven, the Grade 9 Argyle student now trains 25 hours a week. In March 2023, Taylor became the level 4 beam champion, winning against BC high school athletes from Grades 8 to 12. Among other podium performances last year, she competed in the Ogopogo Invitational in June, placing third overall, with a gold medal on floor, as well as bronze medals for both vault and beam.

Senior Male Athlete

Cameron Alexander 

Ski racer Cameron Alexander has been hitting podiums this season with breakneck speed. In February, the 26-year-old finished third in a World Cup downhill race in Norway, earning his second bronze of the season and third world cup medal of his career. He also finished third out of a pack of 54 racers at a December World Cup event in Bormio, and won bronze earlier in the year at the World Championships last February. The 26-year-old Whistler Mountain Ski Club racer is now the ninth-ranked downhill racer in the world, and 21st overall in alpine.

Theo Benedet

It doesn’t look like anything can stand in the way of Theo Benedet. In November, the six-foot-seven, 305-pound offensive linesman was awarded the J.P. Metras Trophy as Canadian university football’s top down lineman for the second year in a row. The star UBC player is now No. 2 on the Canadian Football League (CFL) Scouting Bureau’s winter edition of the top-20 prospects for the 2024 draft. The Handsworth Secondary grad has also received attention south of the border, after participating in the prestigious 2023 East-West Shine Bowl. That rare opportunity for a Canadian player could help Benedet earn a shot to play in the National Football League (NFL).

Hunter Smith  

Wakeboarding sensation Hunter Smith has been making a splash on the world stage. In October, the North Vancouverite flipped, twisted and stomped his way to a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. In July, Smith was named 2022 Water Ski & Wakeboard Canada Men’s Wake Boat Rider of the Year. Also last year, he won first prize at the Malibu Boats Rider Experience USA South in Alabama and third at Wake The Canyon in Texas.

Jim Martin Youth Leadership

Lucas Robson

Lucas Robson is an elite soccer player, community volunteer, and budding professional. In 2023, he was awarded Argyle Secondary’s Joffre Brondgeest Memorial Scholarship, recognizing a well-rounded student achieving excellence in academics, athletics, and community service. In his Grade 12 year, Lucas was the youngest player on a semi-professional soccer team. At Argyle, he helped the senior boy’s team win back-to-back silver medals. Lucas has also volunteered as a coach for his younger brother and sister’s soccer teams. After gaining experience leading soccer practices, Lucas’ skills were recognized by the Vancouver Whitecaps and he began helping with their local skills camps. After being flown to lead other skill camps across Western Canada, he was hired by the Whitecaps to assist with game day operations and fan relations.

Outstanding Athletic Achievement

Debbie Collingwood 

Many people fear the open ocean, but it’s a place where Debbie Collingwood feels at home. In September, Collingwood completed the incredible feat of the Triple Crown of Open Water. After previously completing the English Channel (33 kilometres between France and England) and the Manhattan Marathon Swim (48.5 kilometres circumnavigation of Manhattan Island), the masters athlete swam the Catalina Channel of California in August (32.5 kilometres between Catalina Island and the California mainland). The final leg finished off the Triple Crown after her five year quest to complete the three historically important swims.

Community Sport Volunteer

Errol Aguilera 

Rain or shine, snow or ice, Errol Aguilera shows up to train his athletes with endless enthusiasm. As a track and field coach, he’s readied many high school athletes to compete at a high level on the collegiate stage. But Aguilera also supports athletes at the masters level. One of them is Patty Szybunka, who ranked first in BC in seven events in 2023. Aguilera’s other coaching accolades include 15 years with North Van Football Club, seven years with North Vancouver Spring Flag Football league, seven years with NorWesters Track & Field Club and four years with North Shore Girls Soccer.

Cath Dimmock 

Argyle Secondary School has built a gymnastics dynasty – its chief architect is Cath Dimmock. Over the course of nearly two decades, she’s helped to grow the program from its infancy to the largest high school gymnastics program in the province. Under Dimmock’s guidance, Argyle has won the last three Provincial Championships, as well as every Sea to Sky Zone Championship since it was created. As of this year, there are 56 athletes on the team. Despite it being a sport where most of the athletes are female, Dimmock has built the largest male squad in BC with 18 boys on the team.

Rob Inman 

Over the last of 30 years, Rob Inman has epitomized the roles of a good coach, person, volunteer and mentor. Since the West Vancouver Cougars emerged in 1994, Inman has coached the same soccer squad from young kids to gold soccer in Grade 12 and onto the Millar’s League in 2007. In those three decades, he has fostered an environment of friendship and sportsmanship that the players have taken into their personal lives. Inman is also the long-time coach of the girl’s soccer team at Sentinel Secondary, and has spent countless hours lining fields, organizing team lists and supporting the sport on the North Shore.

Coach

Karen Kirkwood and Dave Gibson (Sentinel Senior Girls Volleyball)

It was an electric finish to a dominant season, as Sentinel co-coaches Karen Kirkwood and Dave Gibson watched their senior girl’s volleyball team claim victory at the AAA Provincial Finals in December. It was especially emotional for Kirkwood – whose own Spartans team won volleyball provincials in 1984 – as she watched her daughter celebrate on the court nearly 40 years later. Gibson was also a big part of the effort, bringing his years of coaching experience to mould a championship team from one that just made the playoffs last year after a decades-long drought.

Darren Rath 

With more than two decades of coaching soccer on the North Shore, Darren Rath has a proven ability to turn teams into winning machines. In 2023, Rath took a team with a starting line of four Grade 9’s, four Grade 10’s and three senior players all the way to the finals at the AAA Provincial Championships. In Kelowna, the Pipers lost the final match by just one goal, securing themselves a silver and a stellar finish to their standout post-season. Also last year, he saw the North Vancouver Football Club (NVFC) Norvan FC promoted to the Vancouver Metro Soccer League (VMSL) Premier division as head coach, with the team making it to the Imperial Cup semifinal. For his efforts, Rath was named North Shore Sportsman’s League Coach of the Year.

Melanie Reid and Raymond Yip (Seycove Senior Girls Field Hockey)

In November, co-coaches Melanie Reid and Raymond Yip helped their Seycove Senior Girls Field Hockey team make history. On Ambleside Park’s Rutledge Field, the team earned their first provincial banner at the BC School Sports AA Championships, becoming the first public school to win an AA title since the 2003-04 season. After winning the title, the coaches described the feeling as surreal, and a great accomplishment for the Deep Cove community. It was an incredible feat for the Seycove coaching staff, as the team had only two Grade 12 players on the team, with a roster of girls all the way down to Grade 8.

Team

Mulgrave Senior Girls Basketball

Coach Claude Leduc called them the best team he ever coached. After consistent dominance through both the regular and post season, the Mulgrave Titans Senior Girls Basketball squad snatched up the provincial trophy in just their second year in the 2A division. The high school team was ranked first in the division all season long, and continued to be a juggernaut through the provincial tournament, winning by an average of 47 points in the playoffs.

North Shore Baseball Association 18U AAA Team 

Last year the North Shore Baseball Association (NSBA) claimed its first ever championship banner, and its thanks to their 18U AAA team. After winning the provincial final in August, they capped off a perfect tournament with five straight wins over four days. Their victory is the first provincial title for the NSBA since the organization was formed in 2016.

Sentinel Senior Girls Volleyball    

The Spartans had to keep battling to win. Although they were the No. 1 seed in the AAA BC Girls Provincial Volleyball Championships tournament, it all came down to a tie-breaking final set to win the final. Claiming the title was a hard-earned milestone for the team, which made provincials last year for the first time in decades. Before last year’s provincials, the Spartans went 10-0 in league play, won the Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship and came first at Handsworth’s North Shore Invitational, where they played against AAAA schools. The senior girl’s team finished the season with an impressive record of 48 wins and seven losses.

If you want to be a part of this exciting and entertaining community celebration, contact us to find out about volunteer opportunities.