FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. John’s, NL – Sport Newfoundland and Labrador (SportNL) is thrilled to announce the finalists to be celebrated at an upcoming Sport NL 2022 Annual Provincial Awards event taking place on Saturday, April 29,
2023, at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland. The event will celebrate the sporting successes and contributions of athletes, coaches, teams, executives, officials, and volunteers within the sports community from our
province for their accomplishments in 2022.

Each of the finalists were nominated by their provincial sport organization as the best in their sport.  “The past year included many highlights and achievements for many Newfoundland and Labrador sport
individuals who were nominated within their categories. The finalists selected by the awards committee are no exception,” said Sport Newfoundland and Labrador’s Board President Chris Schwartz. “I understand the
difficult task of the members of the selection committee to select our finalists and want to express my appreciation to them for being part of the awards process.”

Sport NL is pleased to announce the finalists to recognize their outstanding performances in sport. A considerable number of nominations were submitted by Provincial Sport Organizations for consideration in
the ten awards categories including: Senior Male and Female Athlete of the Year, Junior Male and Female Athlete of the Year, Male and Female Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, Executive of the Year, Official of
the Year, and Volunteer of the Year.

“The phenomenal number of quality nominations received this year is wonderful to see and it is an incredible achievement not only to receive a nomination but also to be selected as a finalist,” said Sport Newfoundland
and Labrador’s Executive Director Troy Croft. “I congratulate all of the finalists selected this year.”

The three finalists for each of the 10 award categories were selected, based on voting results, from a committee of sports and media professionals. The finalists for each category are listed below and their
biographies are in the backgrounder attached.

Junior Female Athlete of the Year (Margaret Davis Memorial Award)
Jaida Lee – Baseball
Emily Reglar – Karate
Abby Williams – Swimming

Junior Male Athlete of the Year (Joseph P. Mullins Memorial Award)
Gleb Evstigneev – Gymnastics (Trampoline)
Liam Drover-Mattinen – Tennis
Chris Weeks – Swimming

Executive of the Year (Graham Snow Memorial Award)
Sean Cadigan – Softball
Melissa Gale – Artistic Swimming
Greg Williams – Baseball

Volunteer of the Year (Frank W. Graham Memorial Award)
Kim Blagdon – Volleyball
Karen Gosse – Gymnastics
Thomas Walsh – Ball Hockey
Female Coach of the Year
Kristyn Coley – Baseball
Duffy Earle – Swimming
Allison Kirby – Gymnastics

Male Coach of the Year (John Drinkwater Memorial Award)
Chris Roberts – Swimming
Jake Stanford – Soccer
Jeff Thomas – Curling

Team of the Year (Edward P. Browne Memorial Award)
Holy Cross – Soccer
Galway Hitman – Softball
Team Gushue – Curling

Official of the Year Award
Joan Butler – Swimming
Tara Jensen – Artistic Swimming
Kearney O’Keefe – Softball

Senior Female Athlete of the Year (Elizabeth Swan Memorial Award)
Kate Bazeley – Athletics
Maggie Connors – Hockey
Jane Pope – Soccer

Senior Male Athlete of the Year (Fred Hayward Memorial Award)
Zach Dean – Hockey
Colin Walsh – Softball
Nathan Young – Curling

The finalists represent 13 sports from communities all throughout Newfoundland and Labrador demonstrating the strong talent and leadership that we have within the province’s sports community.

Tickets for this year’s Annual Awards are available for purchase by contacting Sport Newfoundland and Labrador by phone at (709) 576-4932 or by email at [email protected]. To learn more information about
this year’s Annual Awards Ceremony, please visit https://sportnl.ca/programs-services/annual-awards/.

For more information:
Troy Croft
Executive Director, Sport NL
Phone: (709) 576-4932
Email: [email protected]

About Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:
Sport Newfoundland and Labrador is the professional organization that is central to supporting the development and delivery of organized sport in Newfoundland and Labrador. Representing 55 member
organizations, as well as 70,0000 individual members, Sport NL is a volunteer-run organization that promotes amateur sport throughout our province – for everyone.