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It takes a coach’s eye to notice the little things that helped shape a successful high school sports program. That’s one of the reasons the Coaches’ Choice Awards are treated with the same reverence as the Athletes of the Year at the Holy Trinity Academy Sports Recognition Awards on June 9.
Grade 12 student Zach Dow was selected the senior high boys Coaches’ Choice Award winner while Bethany Hartman was the senior high girls choice.
The award caught Dow by surprise.
“I’m just happy that I got to play basketball,” Dow said with a smile. “I wasn’t the best player. This is just my second year of playing basketball.”
He’s bemused as to why he received the award.
“I guess it’s just because I worked so hard when I was at practice,” Dow said. “I don’t really know why I won.”
The reasons were obvious to Holy Trinity Academy’s (HTA) basketball coach Sam Aiello.
“Zach Dow is one of those kids who will do whatever is asked of him,” Aiello said. “He knew what his weaknesses were and continually worked on them in practice to be better. He is up there as being one of the best kids I’ve coached in the past 14 years. I look forward to having him in our basketball program again next year.”
Hartman practically had the word “Knights” tattooed on her this year after playing on HTA’s senior girls basketball, volleyball and badminton teams.
“Winning the very first (Senior girls) basketball zone banner for our school was the highlight for me,” Hartman said. “We were down by 17 points and we were able to come back.”
Hartman admitted she’s not the type of athlete who garners the headlines.
“I don’t mind that at all,” she said. “I just put a 100-per-cent effort in every game. If it happens to be that one game that I get 25 points, that’s fine. But I am completely fine with being a team player and helping my teammates.”
She also is sort of dumbfounded as to why she was the recipient and not one of the other seven nominees.
“I don’t really know, I can’t really say,” she said with a smile. “I think I have a good work-ethic, and I think I am pretty positive with my teammates… I am really honoured to receive it. I am following in the Hartman’s footsteps. My older brother Joseph also won an award.”
Hartman has an 85 per cent average and will attend the University of Alberta in the fall.
Top Knights
Derek Nimmo and Reid Watkins shared the senior high boys Athlete of the Year award. They shared something else in common – they both thought the other would win outright.
“I thought Reid was going to win it because he won a national wrestling championship and plus he beat me last year,” Nimmo said. “I’m really pleased to receive it this year because it is my final year.”
Nimmo was a year-round athlete. He played volleyball, basketball, badminton, soccer and was on the track team.
The days of five-sport athletes, like Nimmo, are going the way of the dodo as athletes become specialized in their respective sports.
“I just like playing sports,” Nimmo said. “I would just get bored if I didn’t play sports and stay active.”
Nimmo paired up with his best friend, Liam McMaster, to win the bronze medal in Senior boys doubles at the provincial badminton championships. He had a keen eye at provincials as he played with his glasses on for the first time.
“We wouldn’t have got the bronze without my glasses,” he said with a laugh.
Nimmo plans to take engineering at SAIT next year.
Watkins was delighted to share the award with Nimmo.
“It’s a great honour to win it with one of my friends and teammates,” said Watkins, a Grade 11 student.
Watkins is best known for his wrestling. He won a high school championship and the National Juvenile championship in April. He will represent Canada at the World championships in Hungary in August.
The wrestling team was introduced as “Team Reid” at the awards ceremony because he is the lone Knight who wrestles.
“I really wish it wasn’t Team Reid,” Watkins said. “It would be nice if we had more wrestlers because I think we could win a provincial banner… All it would take is two or three more wrestlers.”
He would like to win a wrestling team banner next year, especially since the high school provincials are being held in Okotoks at Foothills Composite High School.
Watkins was also a member of the Knights’ Rangeland Football League championship team.
He was fourth in the Intermediate boys 100m hurdles at the high school track and field provincials as well.
“I’m happy with that, track is a sport I do for fun,” he said.
Watkins also made the Canada U-17 rugby team for rugby and he was a member of the Knights team that finished fifth at provincials this weekend.
The Knights’ Female Athlete of the Year, Emma Bibault, transferred to HTA from Highwood High School in High River to take advantage of the school’s International Baccalaureate program.
“It’s hard to restart because you don’t know a lot of people,” said Bibault. “Playing sports helped me meet people.”
Bibault was busy in her first year at Holy Trinity Academy winning a gold medal at the South Central Zone cross-country meet and later finished sixth at provincials.
That endurance helped her when she played basketball and rugby. Bibault was the Knights’ Most Valuable Back on the girls’ rugby team.
She said the highlight for her was winning zones and going to provincials with the Holy Trinity Knights’ girls basketball team.
The recipients at the Holy Trinity Knights Athletic Awards banquet on June 9 were:
JV girls volleyball: MVP, Madison Edwards; sportsmanship, Ciara Tarry; most improved, Michaela Sheedy; and leadership, Bret Mararenko.
Senior girls volleyball: MVP, Josie Leduc; sportsmanship, Sam Stremecki; most improved, Bethany Hartman; and leadership, Janelle Ozimko.
Senior boys volleyball: MVPs, Connor Jensen and Jake Yavis; most improved, Kenny Ambrose; and leadership, Derek Nimmo.
JV girls basketball: MVP, Kennedy Kilcommons; sportsmanship, Kyra Lindenbach; leadership, Nissa Ali and Ricki Thiessen.
JV boys basketball: MVP, Colton Vessey and Matt Vanterve; sportsmanship, Amar Gill; most improved, Joe Maxwell; and leadership, Jordan Lee.
Senior girls basketball: MVP, Kristin Ford, Bethany Hartman and Monique Ouimet; most improved, Kylie Pozniak.
Senior boys basketball: MVP, James Lagrange; sportsmanship, Zach Vanterve; most improved, Riley Moss; and leadership, Mark Oness.
Badminton: Senior, Derek Nimmo/Ciara Tarry and Liam McMaster/Bethany Hartman.
Cross Country: Michael Quick and Paige Oneschuk.
Track and Field: Michael Quick and Wyatt Scheifelbein; and Ellen McKeel and Tami Scheifelbein.
Golf: Dylan Wilson.
Senior girls rugby: MVP, Ailis Derringer; sportsmanship, Michelle Lunn; and leadership, Monique Ouimet and Taylor Egger.
Senior boys rugby: MVP, Joe Maxwell; sportsmanship, Ryan Anthony; and leadership, Felix Hoppe and Joe Maxwell.
Wrestling: Reid Watkins.
Curling: Riley Braybrook/Sydney Zacharias and Josh Norton/Brittany Stewart.
Football: MVP, Mark Oness; sportsmanship, Peter Hillman; most improved, Josh Ostare; and leadership, Jadon Schneider.
