On Saturday, April 20th, nearly 100 young hockey players and their families gathered at the NKCC for the 2023-24 Apsley Minor Hockey Awards Banquet.
The doors opened at 5pm and a terrific spaghetti dinner was ready to go in the Banquet Hall at 5:30pm The kitchen staff, led by Jennifer Hill, did a tremendous job! A huge thanks to her team including Candice Kemp, Karlee Boa, Helena McMann & Jenn Dunkerley. Thank you to the NKCC arena staff along with Jason, Greyson & Cohen Kemp, Jack & Clare Dunkerley, Creighton Perks and Kasen McGinn for helping set up. Thank you to everyone who helped clean up!
After dinner the crowd moved to the arena ice surface for the awards presentations. Thank you to Chuck Power for helping sort out the sound system so that everyone could hear better. At 7pm there was a surprise visit from Mayor Carolyn Amyotte and other members of the North Kawartha township council. The township presented special awards to the Apsley Flames U11, U13 & U18 teams for their championship wins at the International Silver Stick Finals in Pelham back in January. Thank you township council for this recognition and for taking the time to attend Saturday night.
Players from the Apsley Flames U5, U7 & U8 teams each received a trophy and every player received a gift bundle. Thank you to Lindsay Halcovitch for designing and ordering all the AMHA bags, beach towels & sunglasses. Coaches, managers & volunteers also received gifts. Thank you to Nancy Wilkes for crafting personalized mugs for every coach, bench staff member and volunteer. Thank you to Sarah Tucker of Four Trees Candle Co. for making custom Apsley Flames candles for the managers and timekeepers. U9 players each received a LEO 'C' Championshp trophy and individual awards were presented to players in the U9 - U18 divisions. Thanks to Brian McMillan for fulfilling the awards order and making sure it was received on time!
The award recipients for the 2023-24 season were:
U9
Most Improved Player - Tanner Post
Sportsmanship & Dedication Award - Kianna Dunford
Best Defenseman - Zack Halcovitch
Best Forward - Parker Dunford
Most Valuable Player - Emmett Woodruff
U11
Most Improved Player - Liam Coughlin
Sportsmanship & Dedication Award - Cruz Kaschak
Best Defenseman - George Sayer
Best Forward - Quinlan Kilner & Owen Tucker
Most Valuable Player - Cohen Kemp
U13
Most Improved Player - Owen Hill & Kheiron Rowe
Sportsmanship & Dedication Award - Greyson Kemp & Lucas Sinclair
Best Defenseman - Billy Boa & Creighton Perks
Best Forward - Kyle Laing
Most Valuable Player - Kasen McGinn
U15
Most Improved Player - Kylie Laing & Emma Sayers
Sportsmanship & Dedication Award - Logan Stone
Best Defenseman - Cole Galachiuk & Jonah Villeneuve
Best Forward - Maxton Walker
Most Valuable Player - Trent Smith
U18
Most Improved Player - Noah Gallagher
Sportsmanship & Dedication Award - Gordie Garrett & Connor Lockerbie
Best Defenseman - Tyler McMann & Austin Shee
Best Forward - Cody Dunford
Most Valuable Player - Keagan Perks
Volunteer of the Year for the 2023-24 Apsley Minor Hockey season was awarded to Sofia Villeneuve for her time and dedication put towards photographing the AMHA teams all season long. Thank you Sofia for capturing all these memories, including the awards banquet itself, it was so greatly appreciated.
Congratulations to all of the 2023-24 awards recipients!
Thank you to all the coaches and bench staff for presenting the awards to their teams and the time and effort put into the speeches. Overall it was a fantastic evening. Thank you to everyone who attended and to everyone who helped out.
Photo Credits to Sofia Villeneuve - Newtown Photography
