Brantford Sports Council hosted its 19th annual Sports Awards and Recognition ceremony on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
Bill Harding, Chair of the Brantford Sports Council (BSC), and Carmine Romano, master of ceremonies, kicked off the event by welcoming the attendees and speaking a bit about the BSC and its mission to build and support grassroots sport programs.
Following the singing of the national anthem and David McKee’s official town crier declaration, Kevin Davis, Mayor for the City of Brantford, stood to introduce Neil Lumsden, Ontario’s Minister of Sport.
Lumsden then approached the podium to first thank Harding, as well as Pat Shewchuk and the rest of the BSC board for all that they’ve done for the community, and congratulated all of the nominees for their hard work and dedication.
“Opportunities are all over the place. To the athletes, you have a chance to distinguish yourself, both on your own and how you feel about yourself to your teammates. Even if it’s not a team sport like track-and-field, but you have those that are around you that represent your team even though you’re not lining up beside them like you would in football and rugby and hockey, they’re your teammates,” said Lumsden. “It’s your opportunity to not only show what you can do, but how you can make the people around you better. If you can do that, if you can raise the level of your competition and what you want to achieve and bring other people with you, then you’ve accomplished more than most people can ever dream of. And as you go through your career in sport, that should be the goal because that goal leads everybody to where they want to get to.”
Lumsden then made a few more comments to the coaches, volunteers and parents in the room, before handing it back over to Romano to officially get the ceremony underway.
All nominees for each award were then brought up to the front of the room and recognized for their work before the following winners were announced:
Kevin Finney Memorial Award – Sportsmanship and Dedication
Blair Mathews, Multi-sports
Phyllis Gretzky Memorial Award – Female Youth Leadership
Ellie Silva, Multi-sports
Frank Bricker Memorial Award – Male Youth Leadership
William Bocskay, Swimming
MP Larry Brock Award – Excellence for Sports Officiating
Mark Elliott, Football
John Macklin Memorial Award – Coach of the Year
Joe Maganja, Soccer
George Churchill Memorial Award – Sports Volunteer of the Year
Janna Frystak, Girls Hockey
John Calbeck Memorial Award – Lifetime Sports Sponsorship
Mike Mears of West Brant Window World
George Jones Memorial Award – Lifetime Sports Volunteerism
Ted Leyzer, Basketball
Jimmy Wilkes Memorial Award – Team of the Year
Brantford Brantford Bisons U18 Tackle Football
Community Ambassador Award
David McKee, Town Crier for the City of Brantford
NEW Sport Event Excellence Award
Brantford Community Hockey League’s Tournament of Friends (Sandra Gagne)
Annual $1,000 Domino’s Bursary Award
Male recipient – William Bocskay
Female recipient – Abby Fellinger
Special Presentations – Three special awards were presented to Olympian Claire Scheffel, Suzanne Paulins, CEO of Swimming Canada, and Carmine Romano for his work as a longtime volunteer and supporter of the Brantford Sports Council.
Dave Levac, 41st Speaker of the Legislature and former MPP for Brantford-Brant, stood to speak about Romano, who was surprised with the special presentation award.
Towards the end of the ceremony, it was announced that Brandon Montour and Adam Henrique were the recipients of the 2024 Frank Tomlin Memorial Award – Sportsperson of the Year. While the two both sent video videos thanking the BSC and the community for their support, Henrique’s mother, Teresa, accepted the award on their behalf.
Harding then thanked City staff and the BSC for all of the hard work and recognition, and congratulated those who were both nominated and awarded for their excellence.
Romano then wrapped up the event with a few words of wisdom for the athletes.
“Sport is not about wins and losses; it’s about the person that you become, the teamwork, the discipline, the failures that make you stronger and a good community person,” he said. “Continue to give back when the time is right because if you do, that can be a difference maker in your lives and for somebody else. A huge shout out for the coaches, the volunteers, the behind the scenes people that are already doing that… sports doesn’t happen with them. Thank you for your continued time and effort; a lot of times it’s underappreciated, but we know how important that is.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
