Here are this year’s winners at the Curl PEI/ADL/Sport PEI Awards, presented in advance of Curl PEI’s Annual General Meeting this evening at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside.
Junior Female Athlete of the Year – Veronica Smith
Junior Male Athlete of the Year – Brooks Roche
Senior (Adult) Female Athlete of the Year – Kim Dolan
Senior (Adult) Male Athlete of the Year – Eddie MacKenzie
Coach of the Year – Pat Quilty
Volunteer of the Year– Shelley MacFadyen
Team of the Year– Alex MacFadyen
Umpire of the Year– Cliff Poirier
Marion Dockendorff Scotties Appreciation Award – Nancy Cameron
Here are the nomination details for each of the winners.
Junior Female Athlete of the Year– Veronica Smith
Veronica Smith of Breadalbane, who curls out of the Cornwall club, and is a business student at UPEI, had another very busy season, for the second year in a row skipping teams at two national championships and, for the first time, playing in a major international cashspiel, and also organizing a major curling recruitment event on PEI.
Her team again won the provincial Pepsi Junior women’s championship, going through round robin play undefeated, and making a clutch last-rock draw in the final end to win the final, against the Amanda MacLean team, who they also faced in the previous season’s final.
Veronica and her team then advanced to the Canadian Juniors, where they finished round robin play with a 2 and 4 win-loss record. Although they did not advance to the Championship round, they finished at the top of the seeding division with a 5-4 record.
At the nationals, Veronica was selected to give the English “Thank you” on behalf of the players at the banquet. She is an excellent speaker, and her thank-you was very well received.
She was given a special award from guest speaker Colleen Jones for being the Loudest Yeller. This award was voted on by a show of hands by all who attended the National Banquet.
Teaming up, as she did the previous year, with three members of the MacLean team, Veronica came from behind with a deuce in the ninth and a single steal in the 10th end to win the B final of the Atlantic University Curling Championships, and repeat as a representative at the CIS/CCA Canadian University Curling Championships, where they finished with a 2-5 record.
The Smith team was one of 16 women’s rinks participating in the 20th annual edition of the JSI-OVCA international Junior SuperSpiel, at a number of clubs in the Ottawa area. They finished with a 3-3 record.
As a business student at UPEI, Veronica took on the task of organizing the RBC Sports Day in Canada “Try Curling” sessions, with all seven PEI curling clubs taking part, and a number of new curlers taking up the sport as club members.
She also volunteered at the 2014 Players Championship Grand Slam of Curling event in Summerside, and participated as a rower at the 2013 Canada Summer Games.
Junior Male Athlete of the Year– Brooks Roche
Montague’s Brooks Roche, who plays third for the Tyler Smith junior team out of Montague and Crapaud, is a student athlete who excels both on and off the ice.
The Smith team made the finals at both the Pepsi Juniors and the O’Connor Glass Under 18 Championships this year, with Brooks receiving the men’s Fair Play Sportsmanship Award at the Juniors. This award is voted on by all the teams at the event, and presented annually to a player who demonstrates sportsmanship and fair play both on and off the ice.
The team won the Under 21 men’s division of the 14th annual Codiac Maritime Junior Bonspiel in Moncton in October, stealing the second extra end to outlast a Halifax team in the final.
The Smith team also won one of the two PEI men’s Training Teams spots for the 2015 Canada Games, winning a see-saw tiebreaker over the Leslie Noye team from the Western Community Club in Alberton in the selection trials.
He also excels in soccer, where he was Captain of the Provincial Champion U-16 Boys First Division Eastern Eagles, and played AAA High School Soccer with the Montague Vikings.
Brooks maintains a rigorous training regime both on and off the curling ice, and spent time in the month of September on the ice at Crapaud, and after school in Montague throughout the winter. He also participated in league play on two teams in Montague. Off-ice, he always places at the top of the physical testing for the Canada Games training teams, and, despite a broken leg in March, which necessitated an aggressive rehabilitation program, he has returned to being a very active participant in the Canada Games training program. Brooks also participated in the Whitecap Curling Camp in August 2013, and attended the Grand Slam of Curling exhibition matches for the Canada Games training teams in Summerside in April, although he was unable to curl in the event due to his injury.
Brooks also excels academically. He was the Top Academic Aggregate Student in Grade 10 at Montague Senior High in 2012-13, and was the Atlantic Spokesperson/Ambassador for the IWK Molly Appeal for Medical Research in 2013. He was elected to attend and lead sessions at the 2013 Canadian Student Leadership Conference, and was selected to attend the 2014 Canadian Student Leadership Conference in BC. He was also a Grade 11 Student Council Representative at his school.
Senior Female Athlete of the Year – Kim Dolan
In the 2013-2014 season Charlottetown’s Kim Dolan made her tenth appearance, representing her province in each of the past four decades, at the national women’s championship, and has now played over 100 games at the national event. At the provincial event, her team, which includes Rebecca Jean MacDonald, her daughter Sinead, Jackie Read, and alternate Michala Robison, beat the Kathy O’Rourke rink by a 6-4 score in an extra-end final to advance to the national Scotties. Kim holds the record for the most provincial women’s championship wins.
Kim also won a cashspiel in Charlottetown this past season, beating a field which included both men’s and women’s rinks.
Kim is a longtime member of the Charlottetown Curling Complex, joining as a Junior in 1974 (and advancing to the national Juniors her first three years), and continues to be involved in club activities, including serving on a sub-committee of the Board of Directors on the promotion of the Complex.
Kim is a PEI curling Hall of Fame member, being inducted in October 2012.
Senior Male Athlete of the Year – Eddie MacKenzie
Charlottetown’s Eddie MacKenzie made his fourth trip to the Brier, and his second in a row, this past season, improving on the previous year’s record to finish with a 4-7 win-loss record. His team placed near the top of the Charlottown Curling Complex’s Super League, and also took part in the Curl Atlantic Championship, where Eddie was also an organizing committee member. He won the event in 2012.
Eddie’s busy season also included serving as Past President of the Charlottetown Curling Complex, as well as travelling to a number of off-Island curling events, including the Challenge Casino de Charlevoix cashspiel in Clermont Quebec.
Coach of the year – Pat Quilty
Pat Quilty of Charlottetown coached Cornwall’s Meghan Ching and Lauren Lenentine rinks during this past season, with the Ching team coming second in the O’Connor Glass Under 18 event, and tieing for sixth spot in the Pepsi Juniors Under 21 championship, while the Lenentine foursome were runners-up in the O’Connor Glass Under 16 provincials. He also coached the Ching team to a tie for first place in the Future Scotties event, and a third place finish in the Canada Games Selection Trials.
Pat was the recipient of the girls’ team coaching award at the O’Connor Glass Under 1 event, while his daughter, Aleya, won the same award for the boys’ teams. These awards are voted on by their coaching peers.
Pat is a very dedicated coach, holding three, two hour practices each week, and also coached the team at multiple off-Island tournaments, and coached at the Whitecap Curling Academy last summer as well.
Pat is always supportive, motivational, encouraging and energetic when it comes to curling. He puts full effort into making sure his teams are as prepared as possibl for all of their tournaments, and he is always available to help out around clubs in any way he can – he even volunteered to coach teams that were not his own while still coaching his own girls team (during the same tournament) , just to help out young teams who are still looking for coaches.
Volunteer of the Year – Shelley MacFadyen
Over the last three years, Summerside’s Shelley MacFadyen has been instrumental in revitalizing the junior curling program here at the Silver Fox, with yearly membership increases through her leadership and commitment.
Shelley has evolved the Little Rock and Intermediate programs to a point where the young Little Rockers are forming teams and competing in provincial and recreational events, including the KFC Provincial Under 13 championship and funspiel, comprising four of the 16 teams entered, a testament to her dedication. She also coached all the Fox entries at the events, and two of her teams placed 1st and second in the championship.
Her administrative skills were brought into play again at the Grand Slam of Curling Players’ Championship event at Credit Union Place, where she arranged to have the junior curlers involved in the opening ceremonies, marching the teams into the event, building interest in the sport by having the juniors involved with the greats in the sport. Silver Fox juniors were also well represented at the Junior Rockstarts program held during the final morning of the event, giving the young curlers experience on championship arena ice, and some TV exposure, with clips from the event being shown on national TV.
On the provincial side, Shelley has worked closely with Curl PEI to provide events and developmental opportunities at the Silver Fox, and has travelled with the curlers to other clubs to support their events.
From the first slide of the season, to the final moments of the closing banquet, Shelley makes sure that each child is engaged through a careful blend of skills development, competition, and fun. Everyone is thankful that Shelley chooses to donate her valuable time to the kids of the junior program.
Team of the Year – Alex MacFadyen rink
The Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club team of Skip: Alex MacFadyen, Third: James Dalton, Second: Matthew MacDonald and Lead: Parker MacFadyen, with coach Dave MacFadyen , are this year’s team of the year, capturing first place in the men’s division at this year’s O’Connor Glass provincial Under 18 curling championships, and, playing in the higher Under 21 age category, finishing in fourth place in the eight team field at the Pepsi Juniors. The team, who beat the Tyler Smith rink from Montague in the Under 18 final, advanced to the Atlantic Under 18 championships in Oromocto New Brunswick, where they finished third.
The MacFadyen rink were also the first of the two teams to qualify for the two men’s training spots to be the 2015 Canada Games representatives for PEI, going through round robin play at the Selection Trials with a perfect 5-0 record. MacFadyen and the other qualifying men’s rink, skipped by Tyler Smith, will now square off in a best of three series in November, with the winning rink advancing to the Canada Games in Prince George BC from February 13—March 1, 2015.
Umpire of the Year – Cliff Poirier
Summerside’s Cliff Poirier is a CCA Level 3 umpire who is conscientious and hard working and can always be relied on to do a great job, whether at a provincial, a national, or an international “Grand Slam” event.
Cliff was Chief Umpire at several Provincial events this year and handled each in a professional manner. He is well respected by the players at all age and ability levels. Cliff is always fair and makes any necessary decisions only after a thorough evaluation of the situation. He is not afraid to ask for assistance, if required, which itself is an admirable trait.
On the regional level, he was a volunteer at the Curl Atlantic Championship, an event featuring Atlantic Canada’s top curlers.
Cliff was also an umpire at the Canadian Juniors in Liverpool this season, lending his skill and expertise to this national event.
He was also in charge of on-ice volunteers at the Grand Slam of Curling Player’s Championship in April, a televised event featuring some of the best teams from around the world. He oversaw the umpires, timers and scorekeepers and did the scheduling, re-scheduling and other duties extremely well. He also was the supervising umpire at every draw, a very time-consuming and, no doubt exhausting, role.
Cliff also sits on the Curl PEI Board of Directors as the representative for the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club, and represents Curl PEI on the Curl Atlantic board. He was also a finalist for Official of the Year at the Sport PEI Awards, and taught new officials at a Level I Officiating course.
Cliff gives a lot of hours as a volunteer to help the sport of curling and is extremely deserving of the Umpire of the Year award
Marion Dockendorff Scotties Appreciation Award Winner– Nancy Cameron
This year’s winner of the Marion Dockendorff Scotties Appreciation Award is Charlottetown’s Nancy Cameron.
Nancy has been on six winning PEI women’s championship teams over the years, and has also been to the nationals a number of times as a fifth player. This year, she changed her role from curling in the Scotties to coaching in it, serving as the coach for the Kim Dolan rink at the national event in Montreal.
Nancy also volunteers as a coach with the PEI Special Olympics Curling Program.
She still curls, on Monday evenings at the Charlottetown Curling Complex, and is lucky to have her daughter curl with her.
Nancy was introduced to curling at an early age by her father Doug, a member of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame. He played in the first national Schoolboy championship in 1950, while she took part in the Canadian Junior Women’s in 1980.