Character Athlete Award 2013-14
OFSAA’s Character Athlete Award celebrates the efforts of the exceptional student-athletes in Ontario who best exemplify the characteristics that OFSAA is founded on.
Nominations come to the OFSAA office detailing the exceptional character of student-athletes across Ontario, inspiring those around them with their involvement on the playing field and in the classroom, in both school and community.
Selecting just one boy and one girl recipient of the OFSAA Character Athlete Award is never easy, but the following two individuals stood out for their commitment to OFSAA’s values of leadership, equity, respect and sportsmanship.
Madison Whittet
School: St. Joseph-Scollard Hall C.S.S. in North Bay
Nominated by: Laurie Vezina
Madison is a swimmer, runner and golfer who has “improved by leaps and bounds over the past two years in all her endeavours.” She participated in two OFSAA events this fall and works relentlessly in the classroom.
As a member of the Cross Country squad Madison started a new policy of waiting at the finish line until the last runner came through, a trend that has since been adopted by the midget and junior teams. During one race Madison stopped to aid a girl she found in need of help until it arrived, thereby sacrificing her individual result in the race to potentially save a life.
Her dedication to development led her to improve on her golf game every day this summer. She finally made OFSAA and was the top golfer from NOSSA, showing her improvement with every drive and putt.
“Madison is very coachable and dedicated to improving herself while still extremely focused on team rather than individual results,” said school physical education department head Laurie Vezina. “We are so proud of her participating in two OFSAA’s this fall and know she will continue to strive for excellence while motivating others.”
Jared Salmond
School: North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne
Nominated by: Joel Hasler
Jared is captain of his school’s varsity volleyball team, the only team his remote school runs due to a secondary student population of about 95. To bring sports to his school he organizes intramural games and tournaments for the whole school, which ranges from kindergarten to Grade 12. He also developed and ran a lunchtime athletic program last year for Grades 5 to 8.
Off the court, Jared is the President of Student Council, student rep for the Parent Advisory Council, involved with many other community initiatives, volunteers with local youth basketball volleyball, and swimming programs where he is a water safety instructor at Bon Echo Provincial Park all while maintaining a 93% academic average.
Jared has shown his leadership ability through good times and tragedy. His community was shaken last year by the death of a student and teammate after a car crash, and Jared spoke at the emotional memorial on behalf of the team.
“This was probably one of the hardest experiences for this group of young men and Jared led them through it as a cohesive team with strength, respect, and integrity,” said school program leader Joel Hasler. “Jared is a role model for all that OFSAA values, and promotes these values in a quiet, unassuming way that inspires others around him to do the same.”
Congratulations to the first pair of recipients of 2013-14 OFSAA Character Athlete Award. We will announce two more winners at the end of the school year. If you wish to nominate a student-athlete, please visit our awards section online and fill out an application form.
