Another year passes for Fanshawe Athletics
Another year has passed, another handful of medals have been awarded, and as far I am concerned, another exceptional all-around season for Fanshawe athletics is in the books.
I first started covering Fanshawe Athletics in September 2005, when I was the sports reporter for the Interrobang. During the 2006/2007 year, I have been the staff writer, and have been covering all aspects of news for the paper and subsequently have not been able to cover the Fanshawe Athletics beat like I did last year.
However, I still managed to cover enough sports this year to realize that the Fanshawe Falcons have a large number of high-quality athletes in their ranks and finished with an assortment of fine accomplishments as a result.
The most prominent and significant accomplishment in my opinion for the entire program was the winning of the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) and the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) 2006-07 SIRC-CCAA Academic All Canadian Recognition Award.
In order to be awarded with this honour, Fanshawe had more individual recipients (nine in total) of the SIRC-CCAA Academic All Canadian Award than every College across Canada. The winning student-athletes had to be named to his/her respective provincial All-Star teams, and must have achieved a grade-point-average standing of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale or equivalent as defined by his/her institution.
The stereotype associated with student-athletes across North America is that they concentrate more on their specific sport rather then their academic studies. It is refreshing to see that Fanshawe Athletics cannot be associated with this stereotype, and is producing quality student-athletes, not just a bunch of spoiled jocks.
In a column that I wrote earlier in the year, I mentioned that winning is an essential element in sports, especially as athletes become older and in the College ranks.
That is why I want to point out the champion Falcons from this past year; the Falcon cross-country team (silver at nationals); Nathan Allard, Jayme Sky, and Jenn Hayman from the Falcon badminton squad (gold medals at provincials), and the men's basketball team (gold at provincials).
In the grand scheme of sports media coverage, sports like badminton and cross-country running do not necessarily gain the notoriety that more mainstream sports like basketball may receive, but their accomplishments cannot be simply brushed aside.
The endurance and conditioning that the cross-country runners possess, and the agility and reflexes that the badminton players bring to the court is something that earns those athletes a high level of athletic prowess in their own right.
I know for damn sure that I would not want to be on the receiving end of one of Allard, Sky, or Hayman's powerful shuttlecock smashes nor could I last for more then 10 minutes running at the same level as John Mason or Sean Cunningham.
Maybe that is not saying much… but the point is, they each had great years, and I want to make sure that it was recognized in this, my last column of the year.
For the conclusion, I am going to discuss the inevitable and undisputed, in my opinion, team of the year for the Falcons: the men's basketball team.
Not only did the men complete a perfect, 14-0 regular season in the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA), they continued their dominance in the OCAA Championships defeating everyone in their path to claim the provincial gold medal.
Without question this team was the most significant story of the year, and it would have been interesting how they would have made out in Truro, Nova Scotia at the CCAA Championships had they not lost their top player, and undoubtedly the future Male Athlete of the Year at Fanshawe, Pat Sewell to a season-ending injury in their opening round victory of the tournament.
The Falcons held their 40th annual Athletic Awards banquet on Friday, April 13 where all the major award recipients were announced. Please check the Interrobang online at www.fsu.on.ca/interrobang this week for a look at the winners.
Have a great summer everyone.
I first started covering Fanshawe Athletics in September 2005, when I was the sports reporter for the Interrobang. During the 2006/2007 year, I have been the staff writer, and have been covering all aspects of news for the paper and subsequently have not been able to cover the Fanshawe Athletics beat like I did last year.
However, I still managed to cover enough sports this year to realize that the Fanshawe Falcons have a large number of high-quality athletes in their ranks and finished with an assortment of fine accomplishments as a result.
The most prominent and significant accomplishment in my opinion for the entire program was the winning of the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) and the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) 2006-07 SIRC-CCAA Academic All Canadian Recognition Award.
In order to be awarded with this honour, Fanshawe had more individual recipients (nine in total) of the SIRC-CCAA Academic All Canadian Award than every College across Canada. The winning student-athletes had to be named to his/her respective provincial All-Star teams, and must have achieved a grade-point-average standing of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale or equivalent as defined by his/her institution.
The stereotype associated with student-athletes across North America is that they concentrate more on their specific sport rather then their academic studies. It is refreshing to see that Fanshawe Athletics cannot be associated with this stereotype, and is producing quality student-athletes, not just a bunch of spoiled jocks.
In a column that I wrote earlier in the year, I mentioned that winning is an essential element in sports, especially as athletes become older and in the College ranks.
That is why I want to point out the champion Falcons from this past year; the Falcon cross-country team (silver at nationals); Nathan Allard, Jayme Sky, and Jenn Hayman from the Falcon badminton squad (gold medals at provincials), and the men's basketball team (gold at provincials).
In the grand scheme of sports media coverage, sports like badminton and cross-country running do not necessarily gain the notoriety that more mainstream sports like basketball may receive, but their accomplishments cannot be simply brushed aside.
The endurance and conditioning that the cross-country runners possess, and the agility and reflexes that the badminton players bring to the court is something that earns those athletes a high level of athletic prowess in their own right.
I know for damn sure that I would not want to be on the receiving end of one of Allard, Sky, or Hayman's powerful shuttlecock smashes nor could I last for more then 10 minutes running at the same level as John Mason or Sean Cunningham.
Maybe that is not saying much… but the point is, they each had great years, and I want to make sure that it was recognized in this, my last column of the year.
For the conclusion, I am going to discuss the inevitable and undisputed, in my opinion, team of the year for the Falcons: the men's basketball team.
Not only did the men complete a perfect, 14-0 regular season in the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA), they continued their dominance in the OCAA Championships defeating everyone in their path to claim the provincial gold medal.
Without question this team was the most significant story of the year, and it would have been interesting how they would have made out in Truro, Nova Scotia at the CCAA Championships had they not lost their top player, and undoubtedly the future Male Athlete of the Year at Fanshawe, Pat Sewell to a season-ending injury in their opening round victory of the tournament.
The Falcons held their 40th annual Athletic Awards banquet on Friday, April 13 where all the major award recipients were announced. Please check the Interrobang online at www.fsu.on.ca/interrobang this week for a look at the winners.
Have a great summer everyone.
