Athletics department honours counsellor

Waterloo’s athletics department last week honoured a staff member who has been involved with counselling arts students — including Warrior athletes — for more than three decades.

The department handed out its 2009-10 major awards at the 50th annual Athletics Award Banquet, held Monday, April 5, at St. George’s Banquet Hall in Waterloo.

As a highlight of the evening, the Warrior Campus Service Award was presented to Betsy Zanna, academic counsellor in the Faculty of Arts. “Zanna started in the Arts Undergraduate Office as a secondary school liaison in 1978,” a tribute from athletics notes, “and she’s been an active member of the UWaterloo community ever since. Her academic advisory work with student athletes over the years has helped numerous Warriors find a balance between their athletic endeavours and their commitment to academics.”

She explains: “Athletes are interesting and very serious students with whom to work and I appreciate the difficult task that faces most of them. It’s hard to juggle the commitment to team and the commitment required to be a good student.”

Zanna, who is also an avid Warriors fan, said she was caught off-guard by the award — presented (photo above) by athletic director Bob Copeland. “I was shocked and thrilled, all in one fell swoop,” said Zanna. “Admission and academic counselling are important parts of the university but being a full participant in the life of the university community is essential to those of us who live in Waterloo.”

Back to top

Trophies recognize athletes of the year

Golfer Tiffany Terrier and track and field star Jason Goetz, who have been collecting titles all season long, each have one more accolade to accept — enshrinement in the UW Athletics Hall of Fame, as they were honoured as athletes of the year at the April 5 event.

Terrier was awarded the Marsden Trophy as Warrior Female Athlete of the Year she after dominated the OUA women’s golf circuit in 2009. Goetz won the Totzke Award for Male Athlete of the Year after cementing himself as the greatest varsity triple-jumper in the nation.

For the first time in Waterloo history, a female athlete has won the Marsden Trophy in consecutive years. Terrier, a fourth-year engineering student from Toronto, via Kingston, Jamaica, “was an absolute force on the OUA golf tour in the fall of 2009,” a citation says. “She finished in the top three in every event she entered, capped off her fourth straight OUA all-star season, and finished it all off with an OUA championship at Angus Glen Golf Club. Terrier will also travel to Spain to represent the University of Waterloo and Canada at the FISU World University Golf Championships in June. Terrier was previously selected as Athlete of the Year in 2008-09.

Goetz, in his fifth and final year of CIS eligibility, “simply dominated the triple jump during his time as a Warrior,” the award citation says. “A master’s student in geography and environmental management, Goetz still found the time to win a triple jump silver medal at the OUA championships before claiming redemption in the form of a gold medal at the CIS national championships. Over the course of his career, he shattered the Waterloo triple jump record six times — a record that had stood for over 20 years before Goetz arrived. All told, he extended the Warrior triple jump record by almost a full metre — from 14.27m to 15.13m.”

The banquet also saw women’s curler Katherine Pringle and men’s volleyball standout Aleks Poldma take home the rookie of the year awards, which are sponsored by the Federation of Students. Pringle, a third-year student competing on the varsity level for the first time, skipped the curling Warriors to an OUA gold medal in 2009. Poldma came off the bench to earn a starting spot with the volleyball Warriors, being named to the OUA and CIS all-rookie teams in the process.

The Imprint Coach of the Year Award went to men’s hockey coach Brian Bourque. After graduating 10 players – including the captains and the starting goaltender — from the successful 2008-09 club, the Warriors never missed a beat in 2009-10. Under Bourque’s leadership, the Warriors cemented their position as a perennial OUA powerhouse, going 20-7-1 in the OUA regular season. In five years under Bourque, the Warriors have a record of 92-34-10. Bourque is also a two-time OUA west division coach of the year.

As usual, the John O. Hemphill Award (for male athletes) and Director's Award (for female athletes) were presented to recognize a “significant administrative contribution” to Warrior athletics. Figure skater Kevin Dawe received the Hemphill Award. In addition to winning gold in the OUA men’s free skate, Dawe also served as a volunteer for Think Pink fundraising efforts and was a member of the IU council. “He has been the driving force behind all the volunteering our team has done this year,” said figure skating coach Kim Biddiscombe. “He has been my right hand, I could not have gotten through this season without his support and guidance.”

The Director’s Award was presented to Taryn Daneman, who has spent four years in various team promotions and coordination positions for the men’s and women’s hockey clubs.

Third-year kinesiology students Laurel Calhoun and Eliza Butler won the Brian Farrance Therapy award for their athletic therapist services to the women’s hockey team.

Back to top

Warriors launch partnership with Rotary

Women’s basketball star Reanne Holden (below) was awarded the first Kitchener-Conestoga Rotary Club Community Service Award at last week’s athletics banquet, but “it was actually more than an award presentation,” a news release declares.

“It was the start of a partnership between the University of Waterloo Athletics department and the local Rotary Club that should benefit Warrior athletes and the community at large for years to come,” says the release. “The award is just a portion of the new partnership between UWaterloo Athletics and the Kitchener-Conestoga Rotary Club which is designed to be mutually beneficial to both organizations.”

“We looked at this as an opportunity for the Rotary Club to educate our student athletes about community service,” says athletics director Bob Copeland. “I think student athletes were a very attractive market for them.”

In addition to the award, presented annually to a student who “exhibits excellence on the playing field and in the classroom while participating in community and leadership programs”, there will be annual Rotary Athletic Awards — $2,500 scholarships that will be provided to one top male and one top female Warrior athlete each year.

In addition, athletics will begin hosting a leadership breakfast or lunch event with the support of the KCRC, and Warrior student athletes will begin attending KCRC lunch meetings monthly to take advantage of some of the guest speakers who appear at the meetings.

Student athletes will participate in the KCRC’s many fundraisers, including Lobsterfest and the popular Dream Home Lottery. The student athletes will also drive their own fund-raising event each year, designed to be “an outward-facing community project that benefits more than just the UWaterloo community”. Copeland sees long-term benefits for both his department and the KCRC: “The key component of the partnership is to establish a dynamic and fluid relationship. We’re philosophically aligned.”

Copeland notes that the partnership “was actually triggered by bloodlines”: the assistant head coach of the football Warriors, Marshall Bingeman, is brother to Mark Bingeman, is the president of the KCRC. The agreement on the partnership was reached earlier this year, but Holden’s award at the annual athletics banquet was the first large-scale public result.

In addition to being a standout on the court and in the classroom as a chemistry student, the news release says, “Holden has contributed a tremendous amount to the community. She was a Student Program Coordinator for UWaterloo Athletics’ school outreach program, Team Up, and she has participated in humanitarian aid projects with the Global Youth Network, volunteering to teach and tutor in places such as Tanzania and Brazil.”

CAR

Back to top