Image: Nadine Barbisan (centre) poses with Sport BC Chair Judy Joseph-Black (left) and BC Games Society President and CEO Alison Noble (right).

Sport BC hosted its annual Athlete of the Year Awards on Thursday, March 5, with a number of BC Games and Team BC alumni receiving recognition.

In total, six alumni of the BC Games or Team BC were recognized with major awards while 12 more finished as finalists. Of the 18 total alumni nominated for major awards, 17 have attended the BC Games while seven have represented Team BC at a Canada Games.

In the Team of the Year category, Duchess Park Sr Boys Volleyball took home the honours after going undefeated on their way to a provincial title. Every member of the team, which captured four banners and had six first-place finishes, is an alumnus of the BC Games.

In a ceremony prior to the awards, 39 individuals were presented with a Sport BC Presidents’ Award celebrating their outsized impact as volunteers. Alison Noble, BC Games Society President and CEO, was on hand to present a Presidents’ Award to Nadine Barbisan (BC Wheelchair Basketball) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to both the BC Games and Team BC.  A longtime volunteer at the multi-sport Games and an advocate for accessibility in sport, Barbisan reprised her role as Mission Staff at the 2025 Canada Summer Games in August before serving as the Provincial Advisor for Wheelchair Basketball at the Trail-Rossland 2026 BC Winter Games in February.

Each year, the Presidents’ Awards, presented by Sports with Balls (and a Rock), honour volunteers from Sport BC member organizations whose contributions go beyond expectation and whose impact is felt far beyond the field of play.

Read Sport BC’s full release on sportbc.com. 

Major Awards
*BC Games or Team BC alumni
Red=winners (alumni in bold)

Female Athlete with a Disability

• *Elise Froese – Wheelchair Basketball, Victoria, BC (2020 BC Winter Games, 2022 BC Winter Games, 2023 Canada Winter Games)
• Julia Hanes – Para Athletics (Seated-Throw), Vancouver, BC
• *Maggie Manning – Para Ice Hockey, Salmon Arm, BC (2022 BC Winter Games)

Male Athlete with a Disability

• Nate Tucker – Athletics, Victoria, BC
• *Thomas Venos – Wheelchair Tennis, Anmore, BC (2016 BC Winter Games)
• *Yorke Parkin – Special Olympics (Alpine), Revelstoke, BC (2024 BC Summer Games)

Female Coach of the Year

• Gina Schmidt – Volleyball, Beaverlodge, AB
• Hilary Stellingwerff – Cross Country
• *Michelle Webster – Softball, Vernon, BC (2000, 2006, and 2018 BC Summer Games, 2022 and 2025 Canada Summer Games)

Male Coach of the Year

• Carlo Basso – Soccer, Coquitlam, BC
• *Jeremy LeBris – Judo, Surrey, BC (2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024 BC Winter Games, 2019 and 2023 Canada Winter Games)
• *Laurier Primeau – Athletics, Surrey, BC (2002 BC Summer Games, 1989 Canada Summer Games)

Junior Female Athlete of the Year

• *Brooklynn Novak – Archery, Quesnel, BC (2022 BC Winter Games)
• *Carla Van Zyl – Judo, Prince George, BC (2020 BC Winter Games)
• Elly Hoskin – Mountain Bike, Garibaldi Highlands, BC

Junior Male Athlete of the Year

• *Ethan Wood – Cycling (Mountain Bike), Pemberton, BC (2025 Canada Summer Games)
• *Piers De Greeff – Volleyball, Victoria, BC (2018 BC Summer Games, 2025 Canada Summer Games)
• *Praise Aniamaka – Athletics, Surrey, BC (2018 BC Summer Games)

Senior Female Athlete of the Year

• *Camryn Rogers – Athletics, Richmond, BC (2014 BC Summer Games)
• Holly Ward – Soccer, Vancouver, BC
• *Sophie DeGoede – Rugby, Victoria, BC (2012 BC Summer Games)

Senior Male Athlete of the Year

• *Evan Dunfee – Athletics, Richmond, BC (2004 BC Summer Games)
• Jackson Goldstone – Mountain Bike (Downhill), Squamish, BC
• Reuel D’Souza – Water Polo, Port Moody, BC

Youth Female Athlete of the Year

• Adelayde Broadbent – Cheerleading, Burnaby, BC
• Anna Huang – Golf, Vancouver, BC
• *Lily Stroda – Athletics, Kelowna, BC (2022 BC Summer Games)

Youth Male Athlete of the Year

• *Lowan LeBris – Judo, Surrey, BC (2020 and 2022 BC Winter Games, 2023 Canada Winter Games)
• *Lukas Goas – Canoe/Kayak, Vancouver, BC (2022 BC Summer Games)
• Simon Junzhee Shan – Fencing, Richmond, BC

Team of the Year

• *Duchess Park Sr Boys Volleyball
• Powell River 15A Hockey Team
• University of Victoria Women’s Cross Country

Master Athlete of the Year

• Danielle Fauteux – Triathlon, Kamloops, BC
• Margie Connors – Diving, Surrey, BC
• Shelly Stouffer – Golf, Nanoose Bay, BC

Official of the Year

• Grace Barlow – Ice Hockey, Prince George, BC
• Laura MacMillan – Softball, Coquitlam, BC
• Stefan Tanaka-Freundt – Soccer, Surrey, BC

BC Games and Team BC alumni account for 24 of the 207 (11.6%) athletes representing Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games from February 6-22, 2026.

Of those 24 alumni, 14 have attended the BC Games, 16 have competed for Team BC at the Canada Games, and 11 have attended both the BC Games and Canada Games.

Four more alumni are attending as coaches or support staff while another two are serving as alternates, bringing the total number of alumni involved with Team Canada to 30.

Stay tuned to bcgames.org for updates about alumni during the Olympic Games and again in March as we celebrate our alumni who will be attending the Paralympic Games.

Quick Facts

• 24 alumni are serving as athletes, two are serving as alternates, and four are serving as coaches or team staff
• BC Games and Team BC alumni are spread across a total of nine sports: Alpine, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Freestyle,  Hockey, Ski Cross, Snowboard, and Speed Skating
• There are three pairs of siblings among the list of alumni: Brodie and Riley Seger (Alpine), Rémi and Jasmine Drolet (Cross Country Skiing), Daniel and Laura Hall (Speed Skating)