The Grande Prairie Subaru Sport Excellence Awards came on April 11th, recognizing some of the region’s best athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers in local athletics.
Previously called the Northwest Alberta Sport Excellence Awards, the newly named ceremony aims to shine a light on the individuals, across a variety of skill levels and ages, who have demonstrated a commitment to their sport throughout the past season.
More than 40 athletes, parents, coaches, and officials across 13 categories were recognized during the event.
This year’s Outstanding Official recipient Chris Stone says after starting out in the sport at the age of six, he’s happy to have found his home as a speedskating official.
“It’s amazing, I started out at six years old as a skater and made my way through that competitively and moved on to coaching after I finished skating, and it wasn’t quite the fit for me so I decided to get into officiating and I’ve been doing that for the last ten or twelve years now,” he says. “It’s been an amazing journey, I just got back from a national championship in Ontario so- it’s been, there’s no words to describe it honestly.”
Calvin Willett was recognized with the Unsung Hero award for his volunteering in the local baseball community. He says the award was rather “unexpected”- despite the roars of applause and cheering in Clarkson Hall when his name was called.
“I wasn’t expecting it that’s for sure- I don’t do what I do for these awards and to be recognized is awesome, but honestly, it’s truly our association that deserves this award over me,” he says. “It feels good, really good, there’s a lot of kids in there that are supporting us adults that help out these kids and it’s awesome.”
Other 2025 Award Recipients include Yasna Aedo Tapia as Female Athlete of the Year, Aiden Getson as Male Athlete of the Year, Grayson Hnydyk and Ainslie Coburn as Junior Athletes of the year, Sara Woodlands as Coach of the year, Shayne Milligan for Spirit of Sport, and Kade O’Dell as Junior Official.
It’s not just individuals who were recognized either- Jason Anderson and Michael Horrigan were selected as Developmental Coaches of the Year, and Nancy McCabe and Joe Alaimoana were chosen as this year’s Sport Builders.
Additionally, the Grande Prairie Minor Baseball U18 AA Reds won the coveted Team of the Year award and the Grande Prairie-hosted ASAA Football Alberta Bowl won Event of the Year.
