Over 125 of the province’s top athletes were recognized today at the 18th annual Premier’s Athletic Awards in St. John’s.
The Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, presented the awards, which recognize athletic excellence and provide financial support to help offset the costs of training and competition. Grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 are awarded based on the level of competition and the athletes’ respective accomplishments.
Also presented today were the Team Gushue Awards. These awards are in honour of Team Gushue’s Gold medal win at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Each award is valued at $5,000, and is presented annually to two athletes who excel in athletics and academics. This year’s winners are Jaida Lee of St. John’s (baseball) and Liam Drover-Mattinen of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s (tennis).
Jaida Lee is a Grade 12 student at Gonzaga High School in St. John’s, where she maintains a 90-plus per cent average.
She led her team to the U16 Baseball Atlantic championship as the top batter and pitcher, and is the youngest player ever invited to a Senior Women’s National Team Camp.
She was named 2022 Female Athlete of the Year by Baseball NL, and was a member of the 2022 Canada Games baseball team, where she became first female to play in the male baseball event in Canada Games history.
Liam Drover-Mattinen is from Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s. This past summer he won the U16 Atlantic Tennis Championship and the U16 National Championship.
As a member of Team Canada, he competed at the Junior Davis Cup in Türkiye, and wrapped up his season finishing second at an International Tennis Federation J3 event in Montreal, where he defeated the top-ranked player in Canada in his age group in the semi-finals. He attends Blyth Academy in Ontario, where he maintains a 90-plus per cent average.
For a complete list of recipients of the Premier’s Athletic Awards, please see the backgrounder below.
Quotes
“The Premier’s Athletic Awards support the pursuit of excellence by our province’s top athletes, who continue to excel at their sports locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. On behalf of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, I congratulate this year’s award winners on their accomplishments and offer my best wishes for their continued success.”
Honourable Andrew Furey
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
“These athletes lead by example, showing us all how we can benefit from participation in sport. Our continued investment in sport and recreation is our way of ensuring that they have opportunities to follow their athletic dreams. Congratulations to all of this year’s award recipients.”
Honourable Steve Crocker
Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation
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Athletic Excellence Fund
Sport Newfoundland and Labrador
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Media contact
Gina MacArthur
Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation
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ginamacarthur@gov.nl.ca
BACKGROUNDER
2022 Premier’s Athletic Awards Recipients
| Sport | Name | Hometown |
| Artistic Swimming | Marissa Huxter | Paradise |
| Athletics | Shae LeDevehat | Mount Pearl |
| Levi Moulton | Paradise | |
| Alexandre Nunes | St. John’s | |
| James Power | Goulds | |
| Ball Hockey | Kieran Burke | St. John’s |
| Jack Chafe | St. John’s | |
| Ewan Cleary | Conception Bay South | |
| Renee Faulkner | St. John’s | |
| Kyle Greene | Paradise | |
| Margaret Jones | St. John’s | |
| Brooke Lannon | Placentia | |
| Jenni Simpson | Glovertown | |
| Alyson Thomas | L’Anse Au Clair | |
| Baseball | Molly Healey | St. John’s |
| Jaida Lee | St. John’s | |
| Jay Miller | Corner Brook | |
| Kayla Musseau | St. John’s | |
| Zachary Reid | Mount Pearl | |
| Nicholas Smith | Flatrock | |
| Chase Tucker | Mount Pearl | |
| Cole Tucker | Mount Pearl | |
| Braedan Walsh | St. John’s | |
| Hudson White | St. John’s | |
| Basketball | Nathan Barker | Massey Drive |
| Kelsey Crocker | St. John’s | |
| Gracie Dalton | Cape Broyle | |
| Alyssa Jenkins | St. John’s | |
| Brooke LeDevehat | Mount Pearl | |
| Cole Long | St. John’s | |
| Serena Phillips | St. John’s | |
| Caleb Sooley | Mount Pearl | |
| Cameron Stanford | St. John’s | |
| Bicycle | Roughan Gaetz | St. John’s |
| Boccia | Kristyn Collins | St. John’s |
| Terrie Hefford | Mount Pearl | |
| Stephen Westcott | Conception Bay South | |
| Bowling | Amy Harris | Paradise |
| Jack Walsh | Goulds | |
| Boxing | Michael Gosine | Tors Cove |
| Cross Country Skiing | Jillian Coates | Clarenville |
| Tadhg Strand | St. John’s | |
| Curling | Cailey Locke | Conception Bay South |
| Nathan Locke | Conception Bay South | |
| Nathan Young | Paradise | |
| Diving | Merrick Noel | Logy Bay |
| Golf | Taylor Cormier | Corner Brook |
| Ethan Efford | St. John’s | |
| Gymnastics | Michael Drover | St. John’s |
| Gleb Evstigneev | Paradise | |
| Grace Hill | St. John’s | |
| Jirah Hiscock | St. John’s | |
| Sarah Pace | St. John’s | |
| Kyla Piercey | Middle Cove | |
| Megan Skinner | St. John’s | |
| Jane Young | Torbay | |
| Hockey | Anna Barrington | St. John’s |
| Matthew Butler | St. John’s | |
| Carmen Elliott | Lewisporte | |
| Abby Newhook | St. John’s | |
| Devan Newhook | St. John’s | |
| Michael Strapp | Harbour Main | |
| Ronan Whitten | Logy Bay | |
| Leah Wicks | St. John’s | |
| Jordan Winter | St. John’s | |
| Karate | Ryan Crocker | Torbay |
| Grace Noseworthy | Portugal Cove – St. Phillips | |
| Emma Pittman | Outer Cove | |
| Alex Ryan | Middle Cove | |
| Noah Ryan | Middle Cove | |
| Parasport- Athletics | Jeremy Jones | St. John’s |
| Gavin Noble | Middle Arm | |
| Parasport- Swimming | Nathan Luscombe | Grand Falls-Windsor |
| Powerlifting | Bre Andrews | Happy Valley – Goose Bay |
| Erin Cadigan | St. John’s | |
| Rowing | Teghan Byrne | Portugal Cove – St. Phillips |
| Kaitlyn Hall | Portugal Cove – St. Phillips | |
| Alexander Kingsley | St. John’s | |
| Gabriella Mate | St. John’s | |
| Rugby | Devon Burt | St. John’s |
| James Noftall | St. John’s | |
| Sophie Pickard | St. John’s | |
| John Stanley Cook | St. John’s | |
| Shooting | Claire McCarthy | St. John’s |
| Naomi Tucker | St. John’s | |
| Skating | Sarah Burry | Middle Cove |
| Mark Butt | Bloomfield | |
| Lily Evans | Pouch Cove | |
| Jonathan Flynn | Conception Bay South | |
| Katie Slaney | Paradise | |
| Shawna-Marie Stuckless | Corner Brook | |
| Rachael Tuff | Witless Bay | |
| Jasmine Wheadon | Carbonear | |
| Snowboard | Owen Lapshinoff | Wabush |
| Soccer | Felly Elonda | St. John’s |
| Morgan Harris | Mount Pearl | |
| Kate Hickey | Outer Cove | |
| Eric Knight | St. John’s | |
| Evan Knight | St. John’s | |
| Finley Manning | St. John’s | |
| Briana Pender | St. John’s | |
| Lauren Rowe | Conception Bay South | |
| Lauren Taylor | St. John’s | |
| Softball | Shilo Chislett | Kippens |
| Halle Joy | Harbour Main | |
| Ryan Maher | St. John’s | |
| Jordan Pomeroy | Placentia | |
| Liam Shea | Dunville | |
| Brooklyn Shortt | Carbonear | |
| Mark Stack | Petty Harbour | |
| Abigail Woodman | Torbay | |
| Swimming | Abigail Andrews | St. John’s |
| Megan Holden | Mount Pearl | |
| Jaxson Row | Paradise | |
| Abigail Williams | St. John’s | |
| Taekwondo | Benjamin Eddy | Coley’s Point |
| Tennis | Aiden Drover-Mattinen | Portugal Cove-St. Philips |
| Liam Drover-Mattinen | Portugal Cove-St. Philips | |
| Jasmine Rahman | St. John’s | |
| Declan Walsh | St. John’s | |
| Triathlon | Dylan McDougall | Port aux Basques |
| Ultimate | Cameron Penney | St. John’s |
| Volleyball | Cecilie Dumaresque | St. John’s |
| Derrick Ejeckham | Gander | |
| Karen Greek | Mount Pearl | |
| Morgan Hoskins | Bishop Falls | |
| Adam James | Conception Bay South | |
| Jenna Lake | Conception Bay South | |
| Nathan Marshall | Mount Pearl | |
| Alyssa Warford | Corner Brook | |
| Claire Whiffen | St. John’s |
