Posted: October 16, 2005

Multisport: Canadian forces salute outstanding athletes, coaches, teams, and officials

OTTAWA, Oct. 15 /CNW Telbec/ - At a ceremony this evening, the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency (CFPSA) honours Canadian Forces athletes, coaches, teams and officials at the 17th Annual Canadian Forces Sports Awards Ceremony.

The theme of this year's event, "Salute to Army Sports" pays tribute to the army athletes, coaches, teams, and officials of the Canadian Forces (CF). This theme expresses support and appreciation for the magnitude of strength and endurance displayed in the army sports environment.

The 2005 ceremony hosts more than 300 guests and boasts 16 sponsoring companies. The Sports Awards Ceremony sponsors include Presenting sponsor SISIP Financial Services; Gold sponsors 3M Canada, BAE Systems, CANJET Airlines, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, The Royal Canadian Legion, Labatt Breweries of Canada, Manulife Financial, and Xerox Canada; Silver sponsor The Ottawa Congress Centre; and Bronze Sponsors, Calian Technology Ltd., CANEX and Dracks Military Plaques.

Many of the evening's award-winners compete in military and civilian regional, provincial, national and international competitions. Tonight's honourees include:

Male Athlete: Major Tony O'Keeffe of CFB Kingston
Female Athlete: Captain Tammy Hiscock of CFB Shearwater
Male Coach: Corporal Frank Boily of CFB Valcartier
Female Coach: Major Roxane O'Connor of 4 Wing Cold Lake
Civilian Male Coach: Mr. George Mooney of Canadian Forces Support Unit (Ottawa)
Civilian Female Coach: Ms. Claire Deschênes of CFB Bagotville
Official: Leading Seaman Tom Desgroseilliers of CFB Trenton
Team: Royal Military College Paladins Basketball Team of Kingston

The Canadian Forces National Sports Program, organized by CFPSA, promotes fitness and good health as a part of the CF's mandate of operational readiness. The program allows participants to raise their level of physical fitness while developing esprit de corps, team cohesion, pride and self-esteem through team and individual sports.

For a complete list of winners, visit www.cfpsa.com.

Biographies:

Male Athlete of the year:
Major Tony O'Keeffe is one of the world's top long-course triathletes. He has completed the Ironman Canada Triathlon 15 times, and in 2004 finished second in his age group. He finished first overall in the Esprit Ironman Triathlon in Montréal with a time of 9:18.55, and finished second overall at the Ultraman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. In 2004, Maj O'Keeffe finished second overall in 22 hours 24 minutes and three seconds at the Ultraman Triathlon World Championships for a third consecutive year. His time was the seventh fastest in the competition's 20-year history. The Ultraman Triathlon consists of a 10 km ocean swim, a 421 km bike ride, and an 84.4 km run. Maj O'Keeffe holds the Canadian record, and the Masters men's category world record for the Ultraman Triathlon.

Female Athlete of the year:
Captain Tammy Hiscock is always on the run. Her busy schedule includes competing in the Run Nova Scotia Timex Road Race Series, working towards a university degree in Business Administration, and carrying out her CF duties. Since 1998 she has competed internationally on the CF CISM Cross-country and Marathon Teams. In March 2004, she was the third Canadian in the CISM World Military Cross Country Championships held in Beirut, Lebanon. She followed that performance by finishing first in the master category and first CF overall female at the Canadian International Half Marathon/CF Nationals in Toronto. Between May and October 2004, Capt Hiscock excelled in eleven races ranging from 5 kms to marathons. She finished first or second overall in every race she entered. To cap off one of her best racing seasons, Capt Hiscock finished the Timex Road Race Series as the first female overall in both the Open and Masters categories, earning the top spot on the provincial running team.

Male coach of the year:
In addition to his duties as head of the self-defence program at Valcartier, and assistant coach for the CF CISM Tae Kwon Do team Corporal Frank Boily helped coach the Valcartier team through a solid year. The Tae Kwon Do team took two medals home from a National Championship in Montréal, and two again in the fall at the Provincial Championships, one silver and one bronze. Parallel to his trainer duties, and with the intent to promote Tae Kwon Do, Cpl Boily developed an aerobic version of a self-defence program. His initiative, which is an innovation in the military world of physical fitness conditioning, is receiving warm responses from units who are trying it out. Cpl Boily sets a fine example for the members of his team.

Female coach of the year:
Every successful team needs a "champion," whose tireless energy and passion pushes them to greatness. For the 4 Wing Women's Slo-pitch Team, Major Roxane O'Connor is that champion. Her experience with intersection leagues, and Regional competitions made her a natural choice to lead the team to victory at the 2004 Regional Championships. After losing over 50 per cent of her roster due to work commitments, she built a new team from scratch to attend the National Championship. Despite the challenges this presented, she led this "new" team to a silver-medal finish. The "Dedication to CF Sports Award" she won at the CF Nationals reflects the respect shown to Maj O'Connor's leadership by her teammates. The award is determined by nominations from participants, thus it was the players from multiple teams that recognized Maj O'Connor's dedication and leadership.

Civilian male coach of the year:
George Mooney has been involved with high-level basketball instruction for over 10 years. As head coach of the CF CISM basketball team, and CFSU(O) men's basketball team, Mr. Mooney is a credit to coaching. He called the shots from the sidelines at the 2004 National Basketball Championships, where the CFSU(O) team fought and won the CF National title. Mr. Mooney escorted the CF CISM basketball team to Belgium, to compete in the 38th Annual Shape International Basketball Tournament. Their positive attitude, hard work, and sportsmanship on and off the court, earned them the Most Sportsmanship trophy. On top of his contributions to CF sports, Mr. Mooney is actively involved with local basketball teams in his community. To improve all levels of community coaching in his area, he is assisting in the creation of a coach's skill and development manual. Mr. Mooney consistently strives to encourage his athletes to reach their full potential.

Civilian female coach of the year:
In spring of 2004, Claire Deschênes created Bagotville's first female ball hockey team. Many women on the team had not played the sport before; some had never even held a hockey stick in their hands. During their first season, Ms. Deschênes coached them to the regional championships where they placed second in the region. In fall of 2004, motivated by the success of the ball hockey team, Ms. Deschênes held tryouts for a women's ice hockey team. Seven of the players had difficulty skating, and two had never even worn skates before. The team crossed many obstacles over the season, and took part in their very first CF regional championship. Ms. Deschênes also teaches spinning classes, and has inspired her players to take up spinning as part of their training regime. She possesses strong leadership capabilities, and her contributions to the Bagotville athletic community are treasured.

Official of the year:
Leading Seaman Tom Desgroseilliers is well known and respected throughout the military and civilian community for his sportsmanship, impartiality and professional competence as a soccer official. In 2004, he officiated in three major CF Soccer Championships - Ontario Region, CF National and the CISM World Women's Championships. Based on his professionalism and abilities, he was selected as Referee-in-Chief at the Regional competition and officiated the final matches in both the CF National and CISM Championships. LS Desgroseilliers' repertoire of officiating extends beyond the military community to the university, college and high school levels of competition, and in the local soccer leagues. His selection to referee the final matches at various Canadian National and Provincial Championships attests to his competence and abilities as soccer official, and reflects well on the Canadian Forces.

Team of the year:
Hard work has always been a trademark of Royal Military College varsity teams. The men's basketball team, the RMC Paladins, have put forth very impressive results, surpassing all expectations of the 2004 season. The high- level of physical training and mental preparation of the players has led them to become one of the Ontario University Athletics' (OUA) most improved teams. The Paladins finished the season as the second place team in the OUA Eastern Division. Individually, several members of the team stood out during the season, and have received awards in recognition of their efforts, including the OUA Coach of the Year, and the CIS All-Canadian (which marked the first time an RMC athlete was named University Sport All-Canadian). If the successful results of the 2004 season are any indication of what lies ahead, the RMC Paladins are setting themselves up for bigger and better things to come.