Serwa wins Sport Hero Award from PacSport 2007/02/18

From the grassroots to blossoming stars, athletes, coaches and volunteers from across the Okanagan sporting community were honoured Thursday night. “It was a great night. It was good to get together with the sporting community, and recognize some of the awesome achievments of some of the coaches and athletes in our community,” PacificSport general manager Doug Nicholas said after the 2007 Community Sports Heroes awards reception at the Ramada. While the vivacious Sun-FM morning show host Susan Knight emceed the event, the keynote speaker was freestyle skier Deidra Dionne, who recently relocated to Kelowna. Dionne’s story is well-known. After the two-time world champion aerialist broke her neck training in September 2005, she recovered in time to compete at the Winter Olympics in February 2006. Nicholas felt a personal connection with Dionne’s tale, having been struck by a car and injured during bike training for the 2006 Ironman Canada in Penticton. “I cut (the newspaper article) out when I was in the hospital, and when I heard she was in the Olympics, that was pretty amazing to me, because I was just hobbling at the time,” he said. “I came back (to sports) pretty quick, but I wasn’t competing at the Olympic level. That was pretty amazing.” But it was the local athletes and coaches who were lauded for their successes on Thursday, from World Cup skiers to 70-year-old weightlifting coaches. The coaches and volunteers honoured were Dwayne Taron (Kelowna ringette), Steve Guidi ( Okanagan Mission Youth Soccer Association), Ivan Carothers (Kelowna Dragon Boat Club), Kimberly McCrea (Kelowna Speed Skating Club), Gib Hinz (Kelowna Christian), Gerry Richardson (Titans Weightlifting Club), Jan Fransen (Kelowna Track and Field Club), Gillian Thomson (Central Okanagan Sailing Assoication) and Dave Habib (Kelowna Boxing Club). The athletes recognized were Steve Clements (volleyball), Kristi Richards (freestyle skiing), Geoff Cameron (sailing), Keara Maguire (speed skating), Matthew Downton (badminton), Brittany Novakowski (figure skating), Abagail Raye (field hockey), Kelsey Serwa (downhill skiing), Max Deschner (lacrosse), Jesse Heckrodt (cross-country skiing) and Curtis Gerein (gymnastics). The Kelowna-based athletes will automatically be nominated for the Athlete of the Year award at the Civic and Community Awards Dinner, while the coaches will be entered for the Bob Giordano award. Deadline to submit nominations for those awards is today. © Friday, February 16, 2007Copyright KelownaDailyCourier.ca