Engage Sport North (ESN) celebrated 30 years providing high-performance sport education and training to athletes in Northern BC and the Sport BC Community Sport Hero Awards held at Prince George Convention and Civic Centre Thursday.
The awards celebrated members of the local sport community who, through their dedication and hard work bring their various skill sets and talents to the amateur sport organizations for which they have volunteered.
Award recipients were:
- Ben Berland, ice hockey
- Vicki Lynn Bobbie, gymnastics
- Aaron Flett, ice hockey
- Warren & Chantelle Grafton, karate
- Katie Gordon, rugby
- Vonda Hofferd, KidSport Prince George
- Emily Holmes, basketball
- Dennis McCarthy, wrestling
- Julia Shaddick, figure skating
- Keith Sullivan, ringette
- Elena Thomas, track and field
Paralympic athlete Joel Ewert was the keynote speaker at the event, talking about his path to the Paralympics and the role Engage Sports North played in his achievements in both wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
Engage Sport North, which was formerly known as PacificSport Northern B.C. before being rebranded in 2016, wrote the proposal for what is now the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre, the home of UNBC athletic programs, the Canadian Sport School Prince George and numerous community sports facilities and opportunities.
