Cranbrook sport heroes announced during National Volunteer Week

Six dedicated sport volunteers to receive Sport BC’s Community Sport Hero Awards presented by Encana

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Richmond, BC – Sport BC will honour six dedicated sport leaders from the City of Cranbrook on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 with the Community Sport Hero Awards presented by Encana.

The public award ceremony, hosted at St. Eugene’s Resort, celebrates the contributions of long-time community sport volunteers. East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett will be in attendance, along with Cranbrook Mayor Scott Manjak and councilors Denise Pallesen and Jim Wavrecan, to present the winners with their awards and a gift from the Community Sport Hero Awards’ official apparel provider, FIRSTAR Sports Inc.

“Sport volunteers make up the highest percentage of Canada’s voluntary sector, and are our most valuable resource as a sport community,” said Tim Gayda, President and CEO of Sport BC. “It is only fitting to recognize these six long-time community volunteers during National Volunteer Week.”

The following individuals are the outstanding volunteers who were selected by their peers to receive the 2011 Sport BC Community Sport Hero Awards in Cranbrook:

• Joanne Thom, Special Olympics
• Debbie Mandryk, BC/YT Section, Skate Canada
• Darren Sutton, Lacrosse
• Jim Webster, Orienteering
• Peter Sweetman, Curling
• Bill Watson, Boxing

The public is invited to help celebrate these individuals at the ceremony, beginning at 6:00pm. Cranbrook is the fifth stop for the Community Sport Hero Awards in 2011.

About the Community Sport Hero Awards presented by Encana:
The Community Sport Hero Awards presented by Encana honours outstanding sport volunteers in communities across British Columbia. The awards recognize coaches, officials, mentors and administrators who have dedicated themselves to grow and develop amateur sport at the community level. For more information on the Community Sport Hero® Awards presented by Encana please visit www.sportbc.com.

About Sport BC:

Sport BC’s passion for sport is a passion for building strong, healthy communities.  As the federation for amateur sport in BC, we work to strengthen the capacity of our 64 member Provincial Sport Organizations who bring organized sport to life in BC and grow the 650,000 participants who share in our passion. For more information, visit SportBC.com.

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