Kitchener-Conestoga Community Sports Volunteers Honoured With The Celebration 2010 Community Sports Awards

Kitchener – Leeanna Pendergast, MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga, along with her colleagues John Milloy, MPP for Kitchener-Centre and Elizabeth Witmer, MPP for Kitchener- Waterloo, announced the winners of the Celebration 2010 Community Sports Volunteer Awards in their respective ridings at a presentation ceremony emceed by Mike Farwell of Roger’s

Television held at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Sunday afternoon. Celebration 2010 is an awards program recognizing the unsung sports heroes in Waterloo Region – the volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes that make community sports possible. The commitment, generosity and contribution of these volunteers to our communities and society are so worthy of this recognition. Nominations for the Celebration 2010 Community Sports Volunteer Awards were reviewed and the winners were selected by two independent judges in the community, Brad Schlegel, Project

Manager with RBJ Schlegel Holdings Inc. and Jane Hennig, Executive Director of the KW Volunteer Action Center. Nominations were reviewed with a focus on the impact of volunteer service on local athletes and the community. The following individuals were recipients of the Celebration 2010 Community Sports Award who reside in the Riding of Kitchener-Conestoga:

Ken Schilling - Kitchener Ken has been a coach and volunteer with Kitchener Minor Baseball for the past 20 years and has coached in all divisions from Rookie Ball to the Kitchener Panthers Senior baseball team. He has coached the championship team at the 2002 Ontario Summer Games and has taken two teams to the National Championships in North Bay, 1996 and Prince Edward Island, 2004. Ken is a willing volunteer who presently fulfills 3 positions with the Kitchener Minor Baseball Association.

Steve Lillico – Woolwich Township - Elmira Steve has been a valued and trusted member of Woolwich Soccer and Woolwich Minor Hockey for the past 30 years. He has played an integral part both in the boardroom, on the soccer pitch or behind the player’s bench. It takes a special person to volunteer their time when they have no children involved in these programs. Steve Lillico is that special person. John McCash – Cambridge For the past 30 years, John McCash has organized and very successfully chaired the Preston International Hockey Tournament for boys and girls ages 8-10 from all across North America. This year’s tournament, brought to the Region consisting of 142 teams from as far away as Florida and as local as Kitchener and Cambridge, played in 10 arenas across our Region for 3 days. A strictly volunteer and non-profit undertaking, John and his volunteers simply work to promote the game, the Region, and the Youth of today. Peter Grinsbergs - Kitchener Peter has been involved in coaching long distance runners for 35 years. This coaching relationship has spawned six Olympic athletes – Butler, Brannen, Schnurr, Bartoczek, Jonah and two Commonwealth games medalists – Paula Schnurr, Nathan Brannen, four NCAA champions – Kathy Butler, Doug Consiglio, Matt Kerr and Nathan Brannen. This sport has taken Peter to Hawaii, Japan, Germany, Italy and Africa and to the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and an Olympics as a team coach. This year Peter also took on the challenge of coaching the Laurier running team.

Rick Cadilha - Kitchener Rick has been a member of the Waterloo Boxing Academy since 1976 and has entered his 25th year as a coach. He created new partnerships within the community for the W.R.B.A. and as a result the “Arnie Boehm Training Centre” was built. Rick has also created an after-school program, a seniors fitness program, a high school credit recovery program, assists in delivering boxing classes to area schools, runs a recreational and competitive program, is a National Team Coach, a Regional Coach, and is currently attending his Level 5 National Coaching Institute.

Taveena Kum – Kitchener Taveena has been a member of the Waterloo Region Boxing Academy since 2006 and has risen to be an elite athlete, a trusted coach and a dedicated volunteer. In 2008 she was awarded the Senior Boxer of the Year award, dedicated to a member who has shown initiative, enthusiasm and team spirit. In 2008, the W.R.B.A. created an after school education program called “Hit the Books” with Frontier College. Taveena attended these classes becoming a program volunteer and is now a program co-ordinator with Frontier College and runs the “Hit the Books” program herself. Terry Nosal – Wellesley Township – St. Clements Terry is the coach of the Junior A ringette team in St. Clements where she and her husband Scott, live and breathe ringette and are responsible, not just for ringette’s survival, but for its extreme success in the small association of St. Clements. Terry and her husband are currently coaching 3 teams (Junior A, Belle AA and the Northwest United AAA Team). Terry leads by example, running bingo nights to help fund the small association, organizing tournament agendas, fundraising, booking hotels, chauffeuring players and spending countless hours on the ice. Gary Crossley – Woolwich Township – St. Jacobs Gary served as a coach with Laurel Creek Track and Field Club from 1987-2009 where he began as a middle-distance coach. For the last 10 years with Laurel Creek, Gary coached men’s and women’s hurdles, eventually focusing on women’s hurdles. Gary has coached athletes who have gone on to compete on Canadian National teams while others secured athletic scholarships. He has his Level 4 coaching certification allowing him to be selected as a coach for some of Canada’s National teams and a clinician for the Level 1 & 2 parts of the National Coaching Certification Program. John Thompson – Special Recognition When the Celebration 2010 Awards were first announced locally John Thompson immediately jumped on board. His first thought was “how can I help”. He drove around picking up posters and making phone calls to let people know about the program. He promoted the awards at his own sports booth at Conestoga Mall.

He took the time to nominate a number of deserving local volunteers for awards. John embodies all that Celebration 2010 is about…honouring and recognizing those behind the scenes who make community