A boisterous crowd showed up for the Yukon 2023 Celebration of Sport awards.

The awards took place Monday at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse.

Energy and excitement crackled through the air as awards were handed out in four categories.

According to a Yukon government press release, the Premier’s Award of Sport Excellence recognized the achievements of outstanding Yukon athletes who competed internationally or nationally, and was presented to 23 athletes and four teams.

The Minister’s Award is presented to athletes or teams who excelled at the Arctic Winter Games, Canada 55+ Games, provincials, Western Canadians or national and international competitions. This award was earned by 62 athletes and three teams.

The Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle award was given to two coaches for their commitment to the advancement of athletes and programs. The coaches helped the North American Indigenous Games teams and Arctic Winter Games sports teams.

Shereen Hill of the Nacho Nyäk Dun First Nation and Ross King of the Tahltan First Nation were the 2023 recipients.

Hill has been coaching swimming since 1988, including coaching at the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) since 2002.

King has been coaching Arctic Sports since 2015.

Hill said the award means everything to her.

Of her long coaching career at NAIG, Hill said, “We always come home with multiple medals. This time around we came home with 19 medals of the 45 medals that were won. We only had nine swimmers, so it was a very small team but a very powerful team.”

That team featured Kassua and Tuja Dreyer who won six medals each.

Hill said any sport that “keeps kids safe and teaches them the value of hard work that they do, makes me very proud.”

She added, “I’m nothing but proud of every single swimmer. They’ve been great ambassadors for the sport for Team Yukon.”

Special Olympics Yukon named Mike Sumner (figure skating) and Kenny Atlin (soccer) the Special Olympics Yukon’s Athletes of the Year.

Sumner also won a Premier’s Award and and a Minister’s award.

Sumner said winning the awards “means the whole world to me. Just going out there and giving it all. It pays off.”

When asked if one award stands out for him, Sumner replied, “Winning that Special Olympic Athlete of the Year was pretty darn cool. Especially because there was the picture of me at the Canada Winter Games right after the gold medal performance. It was one of my favourite moments so far.”

Sumner added he won the awards by “just going out there and competing to the best of my ability.”

Alanna Dene and Cheyenne Sparvier were honoured as Most Improved Special Olympic Athletes of the Year.

Brandle Bruneau took home the Athlete Rising Star Special Olympics award.

The final category was the Sport Yukon Major Awards.

Mary Binstead was named Administrator of the Year.

Robert Woodman, Eight Days Martial Arts head coach, was named Coach of the Year.

“It means everything to me. I couldn’t thank my students enough. They’re the main reason why I got this. They’re the reason why I keep doing what I do. I wouldn’t be anywhere without them.”

He also thanked his family and girlfriend Demie Leduc and Aparna Verma for nominating him for his award.

A very humble Woodman said it took “a lot of hard work and dedication, a lot of early mornings and late nights, a lot of sacrifice from a lot of people, not just myself but from the families and the parents” to win the award.

“This is as much theirs as it is mine.”

Woodman added, “Hopefully we can make this sport grow and maybe go to some international competitions.”

The National/Territorial Female Athlete of the Year was cyclist Mara Roldan, who just became the first Yukon woman to ever sign a pro cycling contract. Roldan signed with Cynisca Cycling for 2024 after a brief stint with them last year.

Now-retired cross country skier Dahria Beatty is the International Female Athlete of the Year.

Beatty gave a profound speech when presented with her award.

“It’s been an absolute honour to receive this award multiple times.

“The entire sports community has been incredibly supportive.”

Beatty also mentioned the two gold medals won by Yukon cross country skiers Sonjaa Schmidt and Derek Deuling at the U23 World Championships in Slovenia last week.

“Seeing Sonjaa and Derek achieve their dreams, I know I’m retiring from the sport leaving the Yukon in great hands.

“Seeing all of you out there and the amazing awards that have been given out today, it’s so exciting to see the dedication and strength of the Yukon sport community and to know that it’ll continue to thrive for many years.”

Another cross country skier, Sasha Masson, was given the award for International Male Athlete of the Year,

Lastly, the Team of the Year was the Team Yukon U16 Male Hockey team, featuring Gavin McKenna.

The team had the best-ever result at the Canada Winter Games, finishing second in their group with a 3-1 record and eventually settled for 10th place in a very competitive field. Mckenna set a record for most points ever at the hockey tournament with 28, scoring an equal number of goals and assists (14).

A complete list of the awards recipients can be found at https://yukon.ca/en/news/government-yukon-celebrates-recipients-2023-sport-awards