Celebrating Ontario’s Athletes

On Thursday April 15th, 2010 SIRC’s Toronto Regional Information Specialist had the honour of attending the 45th annual Ontario Sport Awards which took place at the Atlantis Pavilion, Ontario Place, presented by the Sport Alliance of Ontario and the Ministry of Health Promotion. The event was hosted by Hugh Burrill, City TV sports anchor and Alexandra Orlando, Rhythmic Gymnast, Olympian and Pan Am Bid Committee Member.

The night got underway with the Corporate Sport Citations which are presented annually by the Province of Ontario to corporations that have been a leader in supporting sport through sustained corporate involvement over several years. The next award on the agenda was the SYL APPS Special Achievement Awards, which are presented annually to volunteers who have contributed to the development of sport in the province.

Other big Winners of the night were:

• Male Athlete of the Year - Patrick Chan (Skating)
• Female Athlete of the Year - Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (Athletics)
• Male Athlete with a Disability of the Year - Stephen Jesso (Powerlifting)
• Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year - Erika Schmutz (Wheelchair Rugby)
• Female Coach of the Year – Wendy Morgan (Ontario Curling Council)
• Male Coach of the Year – Anthony McCleary (Athletics)
• Team of the Year – NEXXICE Senior Synchronized Skating Team (Skate Ontario)
• Rolf Lund Jule Nisse Award – Sheilagh Croxon (Coaches Association of Ontario)

Congratulations to all the winners and to the Sport Alliance of Ontario and Ministry of Health Promotion for putting on a wonderful evening to honour Ontario’s Best.

To view all award winners at the 2009 Ontario Sport Awards please click here

Second Open House Another Success

On April 29, 2010, SIRC’s Toronto Regional office held its second Open House, with over 150 books on display from both the SIRC Ottawa office and the SIRC@Sport4Ontario collection. Many people from the Provincial Sport Organizations (PSO) in the Sport Alliance building came down to peruse the collection and partake in the free lunch.

What was different about this open house is that there were computer stations set up around the room in order to hold one on one training sessions with individuals wanting to learn how to properly search the Sport Discus Database and also set up saved searches and alerts. Many of the PSOs participated including lacrosse, golf, basketball, ringette, Coaches Association of Ontario and triathlon. Linda Kirk, the Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Triathletes was looking for the latest information on Long Term Athlete Development from a Canadian perspective. She was able to set up a search and alert so now she will be receiving links to articles directly to her email.

Congratulations to our door prize winners Keeley MacLean from Coaches Association of Ontario, Chris Driscoll of the Ontario Lacrosse Association and Erin Hamilton from the Sport Alliance of Ontario. Look for the next SIRC road show to take place in the fall. Till then, sign out a book or two,” ask a librarian” or better yet visit one of SIRCs two libraries, you won’t be disappointed with the information available.