Home »
Eight Sparwood sports heroes honoured
Eight of Sparwood’s most active sports volunteers were honoured Oct. 2 with Teck Community Sport Hero Awards.
The awards “celebrate and honour sport volunteers in communities throughout the province. These volunteers are the lifeblood of continued development and delivery of sport programs in British Columbia. Founded in 2001, these awards play an important role in recognizing the dedication and leadership of British Columbia’s sport volunteers,” stated Carey Summerfelt, viaSport’s Manager, Recognition & Stewardship, adding, “We’ve gained a great partnership with Teck” and eight provincial communities have now received Sport Hero Awards.
Honoured during a ceremony at the Sparwood Curling Club were: David Endicott, Michel Thibeault, Cindy Thummerer, David Wilks, Kelvin Hughes, Holly Johnston, Peter Templin and Karen Hughes.
Sparwood Mayor Lois Halko said the awards recipients are a representative cross section of Sparwood’s sports volunteer base.
“If we looked farther there would be many, many more in our community,” she said, adding, “Volunteers carry out every key component with sports.”
The award recipients have contributed to Sparwood’s overall health, Halko noted. “You’ve also added to the social fabric of our community. I thank you very much for the generosity of your time.”
“Volunteers play a crucial role in every part of our community,” said Teck’s Tammy Ogden.
Adding pomp to the celebration was Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett, fresh into his latest ministerial post, as Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.
“The most important lessons I’ve learned in life, I’ve learned through sports,” Bennett told the 70 people gathered in the curling club lounge.
Volunteers gave him “those experiences,” he said, pointing out that sports instill character and strength in people. “Pushing through pain, pushing through losses – losing is a great character builder,” he said.
“You really do make a difference in your community,” Bennett said to the award winners. “I urge you to carry on and mentor some other volunteers who will take over when you’ve had enough.”
Bennett then handed out the awards. The following are viaSports’ descriptions of the award winners.
David Endicott, Curling
David has been president of the Sparwood Curling Club for over 17 years. He donates a lot of time organizing leagues, volunteers and bonspiels as well as he attends Curl BC regional meetings in Cranbrook as a club representative 2 weekends per season. On his own time, he has taken various courses geared towards coaching young children. David gives up one or two nights a week to coach two different age groups of young curlers; elementary and secondary and has volunteered at the Sparwood Curling Club to teach individuals school classes during the day. He has given up many weekend to take his teams to high school playdowns, junior or juvenile playdowns or fun bonspiels, even travelling as far as Prince George. He heads or organizes many fundraising events for the Sparwood Curling Club and if there are no volunteers he will do the job himself. Although he does not want the recognition, he is well deserving of it.
David’s unwavering devotion to curling in Sparwood makes him a community sport hero.
Accepting the award on David’s behalf was his wife Barb.
Michel Thibeault, Basketball
Michel was the assistant coach to the Senior Boys basketball team and in 1998 created junior basketball programs for male and females. In 1999, Michel coached Mountain View Elementary School soccer and basketball until 2004 and in the same time period coached the junior girls’ basketball at Sparwood Secondary School. In 2010 his coaching skills were rewarded when both teams won the East Kootenay Championships. Michel has devoted countless hours of coaching so our young can achieve the skills required in different levels of sports. He has unselfishly given his leisure time to coach and certainly is deserving of this award. He has served his community well.
Michel’s dedication to sport in Sparwood makes him a community sport hero.
Cindy Thummerer, Multi-sport
Cindy is a well recognized community sport volunteer in the Sparwood community. She has coached both school and community soccer for 10 years and during this time, she assisted all age ranges in our youth from 4-19 years of age and also served continuously on the community soccer board. Soccer is not the only sport Cindy is involved in; she was an executive member of Sparwood Minor Hockey for eight years, serving as registrar for six of those years and also has coached elementary school running club for 11 years, a program that transitions into cross country running in the spring. Additionally, she has coached the high school cross country running team for four years, track and field for eight years and has intermittently coached Elementary School Volleyball and basketball. Cindy is a huge asset to assisting youth involved in amateur sport in Sparwood and is a true community sport hero!
David Wilks, Basketball and Bowling
Mr. Wilks has been involved in coaching amateur sports in the Sparwood community for 18 years. He coached basketball at Mountain View School for six years and has since coached bowling for the Sparwood youth. In the spring of 2012, his 10-year-old girls’ bowling team were finalists in the National Bowling Competition in Newfoundland. Being a member of parliament, he is a busy man but makes as much time as possible for sport in Sparwood.
All of these wonderful attributes makes David a community sport hero.
Accepting the current Kootenay-Columbia MP’s honour were Macenzi Lukkar, Tyler MacDonald and Wyatt MacDonald.
Kelvin Hughes, Hockey and Baseball
Kelvin Hughes has been a mainstay in his contribution to amateur sport in Sparwood. For the past eight years he has dedicated volunteer time to coaching both hockey and baseball teams. He has served on the Minor Hockey Board for the past eight years, coached hockey, from initiation to Bantam Rep teams for the past seven years and he has also been on the East Kootenay Hockey Board for the past five years! Hockey in Sparwood wouldn’t be the same without him.
Kelvin’s commitment and love for hockey make him a community sport hero.
Accepting his honour was his wife Karen.
Pete Templin, Basketball
Pete is a very important volunteer for the amateur sport of basketball in the Sparwood community. He has coached basketball for four years at the elementary school level and following that for the past eight years at the senior high school level. Because of his pursuit of excellence and through his commitment to the sport, he has accompanied the Senior Boys team to Provincials playoffs six times! Pete has certainly dedicated himself to the development of basketball in the Sparwood community.
Pete’s hard work and dedication to the sport of basketball make him a community sport hero.
Holly Johnston, Volleyball and Basketball
Holly has assisted in developing amateur sport in the community through her volunteer involvement in coaching. Holly has coached both elementary and senior high school volleyball and basketball for nine years. For the past three years, she has also been involved with an Elk Valley team which includes senior youth from the surrounding communities. This advanced team is in pursuit of a higher level skill set and they travel broadly for tournaments. In between her involvement with basketball and volleyball, Holly also coaches soccer.
The countless hours and hard work that Holly puts in makes her a community sport hero.
Karen Hughes, Multi-Sport
Karen has been involved as a volunteer in many of the community amateur sporting programs for the past nine years. Because she assists with so many various sporting programs, she volunteers year round. Karen has coached high school volleyball and basketball for five years. She has served on the board and has also coached the community soccer program for nine years. She has been a member of the board of the Sparwood figure skating association for five years and lastly, she rounds out her year by coaching swimming. She coached the Elk Valley Dolphins swim team for three years and for the past five years, has assisted in coaching the Crowsnest Pass summer swim team. Karen has an innate love for sports and she is generous with her time by mentoring and assisting the youth to become proficient in sports!
Karen’s dedication and passion for sport make her a community sport hero.
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW and Carrie Schafer/Through My Eyes Photography
