Congratulations to the 2010 Recipients:
Sarah Cobourn – Mississauga, ON
Jade Cyr – Lac Beauport, QC
Margarita Duque – Vancouver, BC
Riana Magee – Edmonton, AB
Meredith Walker – Ancaster, ON
Sarah Cobourn – Mississauga, Ontario
Sarah Cobourn is an avid field hockey player with a sincere passion for community service. While Sarah has always been athletic, she fell in love with field hockey when she first picked up a stick in high school. She has been playing the sport ever since as an active member on the Ontario team since 2003 and as captain of the University of Western Ontario team for the past 2 years.
Leading a healthy lifestyle has been a defining aspect of who Sarah is. As a part of her undergraduate studies, Sarah completed a year-long honours thesis project in “Exerciser Identity and Adherence”, researching what motivates people to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Whether it is through sport or community service initiatives, Sarah has an undeniable enthusiasm to be involved, to learn from others, and to make a difference. Sarah has organized numerous outreach initiatives including a Mini-Olympic Sports Day for underprivileged children in the London, Ontario area. Sarah has also travelled around the world to places such as Ecuador and the Northwest Territories.
Sarah is a recent Dean’s List graduate of the University of Western Ontario and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Sport Management at Bond University on the Gold Coast of Australia.
Jade Cyr – Lac-Beauport, Québec
Jade is an enthusiastic, energetic and cheerful young woman. She has been a canoe/kayak athlete for approximately five years and is now classed as elite on the Quebec squad (AQCKV – Association Québécoise de Canoë-Kayak de Vitesse). In addition to competing, Jade coaches a group of youth in cross-country skiing in the winter and manages a group of day campers in canoe/kayak in the summer. While Jade is passionate about canoe/kayak she is also conscious about balancing her sport with her studies.
This September, Jade will begin her third year of general and vocational college studying Natural Science. In the future, she plans to pursue a university degree in either Kinesiology or Psychology. Jade also hopes to one day compete in the Olympics and looks forward to improving in her sport and developing the focused attitude needed to compete at this high level. As an athlete, Jade attaches a lot of importance to physical activity and good health and believes that these are the two essential components to living a happy and fulfilled life.
Margarita Duque – Vancouver, British Columbia
Margarita is an enthusiastic and dedicated person who is eager to learn and make the most out of life. She loves adventure and sports and finds immense joy in exercise. Margarita strives to live a balanced lifestyle and does so by distributing her time and energy to sport as well as studying, painting and spending time with her family and friends. Margarita also finds great pleasure in volunteering and in helping others.
Three years ago, Margarita was hit by a car while training for the Sun Run, a 10km community event in Vancouver. This accident, while life changing, only made Margarita more grateful for all the activities she can do. Despite many obstacles, Margarita has worked with her limitations, strengthened her aspirations, and has ultimately gained a greater motivation and appreciation for life. She believes that a positive attitude will ensure success and therefore always tries to be optimistic. Margarita approaches everything she does in life as a learning opportunity and believes that all experiences can be turned into positive ones.
Riana Magee – Edmonton, Alberta
Riana has always surrounded herself with sport and by the age of six she was competing in triathlons. This was then followed by years of snowboarding, wakeboarding, track and field, basketball and volleyball. Riana also played at the national level in both flag football and hockey. As captain of her hockey team, Riana was recognized as the top defensive player in the provincial league and at the national finals by Hockey Canada. During the three years Riana played midget AAA hockey, she also maintained an honour roll standing.
Forgoing an opportunity to play ice hockey in the NCAA on a scholarship, Riana is currently training to play for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national champions, the University of Alberta Pandas. While at the University of Alberta, Riana will study Physiotherapy. With regards to sport and her position with the Panadas, Riana states, “I am honoured and excited to have this chance to play and be a part of such a well respected hockey program in Canada…Sport has really given me the opportunity to discover that I need to live life to the fullest.”
Meredith Walker – Ancaster, Ontario
Sport has always been a part of Meredith’s life. For the purpose of staying active she has participated in a variety of sports including, softball, volleyball, water polo and rollerblading. Her real passion, however, is for ice hockey in the winter and field hockey in the summer. In addition to being a player, Meredith has also been co-president of the Girls Athletic Association, and has been awarded the Best Effort Award and the Senior Female Athlete of the Year Award at her high school. Whether she is participating in community sports, on high school teams, or helping children at camp, Meredith is an energetic, enthusiastic and dedicated member of the team.
Meredith’s involvement in the community is not limited to sport. She is a dedicated volunteer and has been actively involved with a variety of charities for many years. Over the years, Meredith has been recognized with many awards for her volunteer work and community service. Recently, Meredith was asked to be the Keynote speaker at the YWCA “Totally Awesome Young Women’s Breakfast” where she told her story of volunteering to more than 200 high school students. At this breakfast, a reporter highlighted how at the age of 18 Meredith had volunteered more hours than many do in their lifetime.
Meredith will begin her first year of Sport Management studies at Durham College in Oshawa in the fall. It is her goal to continue to promote and encourage young women to be actively involved, both in sport and their community.
