While she was developing into a world-class athlete, Catriona LeMay Doan won her share of awards.
Recognition for her achievements as a long-track speed skater growing up in Saskatoon helped encourage her to stick with her sport and LeMay Doan went on to become a world and Olympic champion.
Similar opportunities for athletic development and award recognition for clutch performances exist for young athletes in northern B.C.
PacificSport Northern B.C. annually rewards outstanding athletic achievements and contributions to sport from athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers. The individuals it selects this year will be the guests of honour at the Fan The Flame awards banquet, on Thursday, Feb. 11 at the Prince George Civic Centre. LeMay Doan will be the keynote speaker that night and will address the crowd in her Power of Sport speech.
"She's excited to come back to Prince George a year later (after the 2015 Canada Winter Games) and she will talk about the way sport propels people and the community," said Leslie Ann Wirth, PacificSport Northern B.C.'s executive director. "She's a wonderful advocate for sport and for community development and she just cares so much about this community, too."
The Fan The Flame dinner is the largest annual fundraising event for the non-profit PacificSport Northern B.C. Organizers hope to raise $50,000 at the banquet, which also includes a silent auction. All proceeds will support PacificSport Northern B.C.'s programs and activities in the region.
"The difference with the Fan the Flame banquet this year, as compared to previous years, is we're really hoping this will be a premier community sports event where we can raise some money to support the programming and the athlete services we offer here in the north," said Wirth.
"We have a fundraising target of $50,000 above and beyond the cost of the event, and maybe next year it will be $100,000."
Tickets for the banquet are $80 or $750 for a table of 10, and are available through the website, pacificsportnorthernbc.com or by email, [email protected].
Sponsorship packages are available with five levels of sponsorship being offered. Gold sponsors ($10,000 or more) receive recognition as title sponsors. There are also silver ($5,000), bronze ($2,500), Friend of the Flame ($1,000) and Fanning the Flame ($500) sponsorships available.
In 2010, PacificSport Northern B.C. founded the Rising Star Award program for northern B.C. athletes. Two junior-aged athletes (one male, one female) and two 18-and-older athletes (one male, one female) will be selected. Athletes who have had success, nationally and internationally will be favoured in the voting, said Wirth.
A new award, the Canada Winter Games Legacy Sport Difference Maker award, will recognize the contributions of as many as four coaches, officials or volunteers who have made significant contributions to sport development in the north.
"PacificSport created that award in recognition and out of respect for the huge success the Games were and how the Games are really going to be able to elevate sport participation and volunteerism in the north," said Wirth.
The deadline for nominations is Nov. 6. PacificSport has sent nomination packages to more than 700 minor sports organizations and volunteer groups in the region.
Building future champions
What does PacificSport Northern B.C. do?
Established as a non-profit society in 1995, PacificSport Northern B.C.'s mission is to create opportunities for homegrown athletes by offering programs, resources and services to stimulate participation and enhance sport development performance.
Programs offered by the non-profit organization are based in two locations - Prince George (at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre) and Fort St. John.
PacificSport offers introductory sport participation programs with widespread appeal to encourage recreational athletes to get involved in sports as lifelong activities. In the past year, 325 kids signed up for multi-day camps (Xplore Sportz and Active Star). Several times each year, usually during professional development days when students are off school, PacificSport organizes Try It events. Last year there were 17 Try It day camps and kids had a chance to try 12 sports, including four wheelchair sports.
PacificSport Northern B.C. also helps organize community events such as National Heath and Fitness Day, Sports Day in Canada and Family Sports Day Prince George.
The organization's focus on sport development creates opportunities for coaches and sport leaders to pursue courses and attend conferences. Through PacificSport, coaches can achieve level advancement in the National Coaching Certification Program.
High-school aged athletes who attend the PacificSport Northern B.C. Canadian Sport School high performance centre in Prince George attend morning classes at their regular school, then go to the Northern Sport Centre at UNBC for afternoon classroom sessions and sport-specific physical training. The sport school offers student athletes flexibility in the scheduling of their classroom time for academic courses, which caters to their competition schedules. Students have access to training/testing facilities at the NSC as well as professional trainers, nutritionists, physiotherapists, physiologists and sports psychologists. There are more than 100 athletes and coaches registered with PacificSport Northern B.C.
PacificSport Northern B.C. currently has six paid staff and an 11-member board which joined forces this past year to contribute more than 1,000 hours of volunteer time to help organize and operate the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
