Honouring the best in North Okanagan sports

VERNON – You don’t get much more Canadian than hockey, football and snowboarding.

Representatives and athletes from the three disciplines were honored Tuesday evening at the 25th Annual North Okanagan Tim Hortons Athletic Awards at the Lakers Clubhouse in Vernon.

Sponsored by Tim Hortons Vernon franchisee owner Dan Currie, the awards gave kudos to those who excel and take great pride in their sport.

National para snowboarder Curt Minard was named Athlete of the Year. Minard competed at the Paralympic Games in South Korea.

Minard lost his left hand after being electrocuted with 14,400 volts during a workplace accident. He still works for the company, now as a foreman power line technician.

“I’m honoured to be awarded with such a prestigious award from my community. It’s such an extreme honour to know that you have a community like Vernon behind you,” said Minard.

“Am I done competing? No. I’ve still got more in me. There’s still one medal I don’t have in my cabinet right now and that’s a gold World Cup medal.”

Cross country skier Hannah Mehain was the runner-up for Athlete of the Year.

Erica Wray accepted the Leadership Award on behalf of her dad, Duncan Wray, who died suddenly last fall. Wray was the owner of the Vernon Vipers Junior hockey team.

“It’s a tremendous loss for everybody. I take it personally as he is my father, but I know there are others who miss him dearly as well. I don’t think everybody could have the level of passion (for hockey) as my dad did. It’s really special to see my dad’s legacy live on,” Erica said during Tuesday’s ceremony.

The Leadership Award runner-up was Ian Murphy, who started a soccer league in Vernon with a dozen players. That league has now grown to almost 200.

Team of the Year went to the Vernon Secondary School Junior Panthers football team, the first Vernon high school team to win a provincial football title.

“There was a lot of fight in these guys, we always seemed to come out on top,” said Panthers coach Sean Smith during his acceptance of the award. The team had a perfect season.

Team of the Year runner-up was the Vernon Midget Tier 3 Coca Cola Vipers hockey team.

A panel of community and media representatives make the award selections. The panel consists of Funtastic founder John Topping, former city councillor Jack Gilroy, Morning Star sports editor Kevin Mitchell, Ken Richardson, Josh Winquist, Sun FM morning show host Betty Selin and Beach Radio news director Pete McIntyre.

Honorees were awarded a keepsake engraved plaque, and will hang on to the large engraved cup for the year.

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