The Selection Committee for the Greater Victoria Sports Awards, sponsored by 94Forward, is proud to announce the following award winners for achievements during the 2022 sports calendar:
Female Athlete of the Year
Micah Zandee-Hart, Hockey
Male Athlete of the Year
Riley Pickrell, Cycling
Alex Nelson ‘Ok’wilagame’ Indigenous Female Athlete of the Year
Judy Cristante, Field Hockey
Alex Nelson ‘Ok’wilagame’ Indigenous Male Athlete of the Year
Ben Pawluk, Lacrosse
Junior Female Athlete of the Year
Renee Batalla, Diving
Junior Male Athlete of the Year
Dylan Garand, Hockey
Senior Female Athlete of the Year
Heather Simonson, Cycling
Senior Male Athlete of the Year
Jim Rutledge, Golf
Team of the Year, Co-Winners:
UVIC Women’s Field Hockey
Camosun Chargers Men’s Volleyball
Coach of the Year, Co-Winners:
Lynne Beecroft, Field hockey
Charles Parkinson, Volleyball
Pat Hall Volunteer Award:
Troy Birtwistle, Baseball
John & Marilyn Bate Organization of the Year Award:
Boardworks Diving
The winners will be honoured at an awards ceremony on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at Government House from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
The Victoria Sports Awards were an annual fixture on the Victoria sports calendar between 1968 and 2006— celebrating the achievements of Greater Victoria athletes, teams, coaches and volunteers. The Greater Victoria Sport Tourism Commission is pleased to be honouring excellence again by helping to relaunch the awards.
The first awards for 1967 took place in April 1968 at the Empress Hotel, thanks to the efforts of the former Daily Colonist and Times Colonist reporter Gorde Hunter, along with the Kiwanis Club of Saanich and the Victoria Sports Council. In later years, Pat Hall organized the annual event with the help of John and Marilyn Bate. The three will be honoured at the March 2nd event.
To learn more about the history of the event, along with previous award winners, videos and newspaper articles of the day, visit gvsa.ca.
Tickets for the awards are $75 and available at:
gvsa.ca until Thursday, February 23.
2023 Selection/Nominations Committee:
• Peter Lawless, Chair
• Brenda Dean
• Cleve Dheensaw
• Stacey Lund
• Keith McCallion
• Dorothy Paul
• Jaclyn Snell
• Suzanne Weckend
2023 Greater Victoria Sports Awards Committee:
• Kelly Mann, Chair
• King Lee
• Cathy Noel
• Murray Smith
• Keith Wells
• Sharon White
