McGuinty Government Recognizes Contributions To Amateur Sport

 from Ontario Gov’t Newsroom

Ontario’s top amateur athletes were honoured at the 2009 Ontario Sport Awards April 15^th, 2010 in Toronto.  The event, hosted by the Ministry of Health Promotion and the Sport Alliance of Ontario, also recognized the outstanding contributions of coaches, officials, volunteers and corporate supporters to amateur sport in Ontario.

Award winners included: 

• Male Athlete of the Year – Patrick Chan (Skating)
• Female  Athlete of the Year – Priscilla Lopes-Schliep
  (AthletiAAs)
• Male Athlete with a Disability of the Year – Stephen Jesso(Powerlifting)
• Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year – Erika Schmutz (Wheelchair Rugby)

The province provides support to high-performance athletes and coaches through the Quest for Gold program and committed $10 million towards the program in 2010-11.  Ontario’s athletes and coaches will have the opportunity to showcase their skills at home when the GTA hosts the Pan/Parapan American Games in summer 2015. The Games will create thousands of construction jobs, improve sports infrastructure, and bring 250,000 athletes, coaches and tourists to Ontario.

QUICK FACTS

• The Ontario Sport Awards have been honouring outstanding  achievement in Ontario amateur sport since 1965 and is the highest form of recognition for sport excellence in the province.
• Previous recipients include Elvis Stojko, Donovan Bailey, Silken Laumann and Lennox Lewis.
• Award winners are chosen by the Sport Awards Selection Committee, a group of former athletes and sport administrators from Ontario.

LEARN MORE (Links provided w/story)

• Check the Sport Alliance of Ontario site for updates on
  other Ontario Sport Awards recipients.
• Learn more about Ontario’s Quest for Gold Program.
• Check out the latest on the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Links in this document provided courtesy of  www.OntarioNewsNorth.com, below is some additional information ONN found in regards to the Athletes of the Year:

• Visit Male Athlete of the Year, Patrick Chan’s Blog – CLICK HERE
• Visit Female Athlete of the Year, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep
  Official Website – CLICK HERE
• Couldn’t find websites for either Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year, Erika Schmutz  nor Stephen
  Jesso (Powerlifting), the Male Athlete with a Disability of the Year but you can CLICK HERE for more information about Jesso from a Powerlifting Website.