For immediate release
And the finalists are . . .
Sport Nova Scotia announces Ricoh Sport Award Finalists
Halifax, NS (May 29, 2012) – Athletes, coaches, officials and teams who achieved global greatness this past year were highlighted today, as Sport Nova Scotia announced the finalists for the 16th annual Ricoh Sport Awards.
“This is the best of the best in our province and around the world,” said Jamie Ferguson, CEO of Sport Nova Scotia. “We have a sixteen-year-old national sailing champion from Chester, a teen from Kentville scouted for Team World in football, an engineer with 28 national gold medals in canoe-kayak, and a hockey phenom from Cole Harbour. There are some with their ticket to London already purchased and others putting it all on the line as they inch closer to realizing their Olympic dream.”
The Ricoh Sport Awards recognize the achievements of Nova Scotia’s greatest athletes, teams, coaches, officials, and volunteers in amateur sport over the past year.
“Each of these nominees has come through a rigorous selection process and they represent the very best in their respective categories,” says Ferguson. “They are the types of people who excite and inspire all Nova Scotians. Through their excellence, they are helping to build our sport system and spread the benefits of sport participation across the province. We should all be very proud of this group.”
Over 220 nominations from 41 different sports were submitted by provincial sport organizations. Finalists were selected based on their best achievement of the past season, in addition to their overall performance throughout the year.
The finalists were announced in seven of the eleven categories. They are:
The RICOH Team of the Year
Mariah Godin & Emily Riddle - CanoeKayak
Max Flinn & Andrew Burns - Sailing
Murphy’s Junior Eagles - Softball
The RICOH Female Individual Athlete of the Year
Jenna Martin - Athletics
Ellie Black - Gymnastics
Danielle Dube - Sailing
The RICOH Male Individual Athlete of the Year
Mark de Jonge - CanoeKayak
David Sharpe - Swimming
Ian Kent - Table Tennis
The RICOH Female Team Athlete of the Year
Alexa Irvin - CanoeKayak
Alexis Crossley - Hockey
Nkem Ezurike - Soccer
The RICOH Male Team Athlete of the Year
Connor Taras - CanoeKayak
Adam Melanson - Football
Nathan MacKinnon - Hockey
The RICOH Coach of the Year
Paul Millman - Athletics
Csom Latorovszki - CanoeKayak
Aaron Maszko - Swimming
The RICOH Official of the Year
Mark Penfound - CanoeKayak
Warren Nethercote - Sailing
Graham Waters - Squash
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on June 2, 2012 at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel. Additional categories to be announced on Saturday include Ricoh Association of the Year and Ricoh Sport Makes a Difference. Sport Nova Scotia and Ricoh will also recognize the Volunteers of the Year and Sponsors of the Year from each of the Provincial Sport Organizations. The evening is capped with the Sport Nova Scotia Chair’s Award, given to an individual who has had a significant impact on sport in Nova Scotia.
About Ricoh Canada
Ricoh Canada Inc. is a leading provider of document solutions. Ricoh’s fully integrated hardware and software products help businesses share information efficiently and effectively by enabling customers to control the input, management and output of documents.
Ricoh Canada Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ricoh Corporation with its head office located in Toronto, employing over 2,100 employees nation-wide. We are pioneers in the development of computer-networked and digital multifunctional document systems and market leaders in colour and black & white digital imaging systems, facsimile products, printers, scanners, digital duplicators, document management and wide format engineering systems.
With their head office located in Japan, Ricoh employs over 108,000 people worldwide and has realized a steady growth in revenue and profits for almost a decade, generating sales in excess of $21 billion (U.S.) fiscal year 2009. Their history is 74 years old as the leading supplier of office automation equipment.
About Sport Nova Scotia
Sport Nova Scotia is a voice for amateur sport that promotes the benefits of health, personal development and achievement of all participants. Sport Nova Scotia is a non-profit, non-government federation representing over 55 Provincial Sport Organizations and more then 160,000 member Nova Scotians.
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For photos and/or more information please contact:
Carolyn Townsend
Director, Communications and Public Relations
Sport Nova Scotia
(902) 425-5450 ext.321
ctownsend@sportnovascotia.ca