The annual Northwest Alberta Sport Excellence Awards are returning to Grande Prairie once again to recognize the athletes and volunteers that make the Peace Country sport scene so significant.
On April 12th, 45 nominees will be recognized this year and Grande Prairie Regional Sport Connection Executive Director Karna Germsheid says she is excited to see such a high quality group of nominees this year.
“It’s a really exciting event for our athletes, coaches, volunteers and sport builders within the community,” she says.
Germsheid says the event is significant as it serves as a chance to recognize the people who have built up the athletics programming available in the Grande Prairie Region.
“I think it’s incredibly important to recognize the people, especially the people supporting the community, our athletes are not just athletes by themselves, they need to have events created so they can compete, they need to have coaching and guidance, and the coaches need to have support from parents and volunteers, and we need facilities, it’s a real ecosystem.”
Additionally, Germsheid emphasized the volunteer side of athletics. She says without volunteers, Grande Prairie sports simply would not exist.
“An event that recognizes both our elite athletes, our elite coaches, but also those community coaches and volunteers and sport builders that are driving the system so our youth and adults have those opportunities is really important,” she says. “They’re not doing it for the recognition, they’re doing it for the love of a sport, the love of a child in the sport but ultimately it never hurts to recognize people and this is an event that we can use that to do that very well.”
Tickets for the evening are on sale and ticket information is available on the Grande Prairie Regional Sport Connection’s website.
