The Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Association is pleased to announce the winners of its annual awards.
The 2016 award winners are as follows:
- Junior Female (Judy Kelloway award) – Alexandra Murphy, St. John’s Soccer
- Junior Male (George Innes award) – Brent Hennebury, St. Lawrence Laurentians
- Senior Female (Laura Breen award) – Hannah Rivkin, Holy Cross Crusaders & Memorial University Seahawks
- Senior Male (Brian Murphy award) – John Douglas, St. Lawrence Laurentians
- Team of the Year (Angus Barrett award) – St. John’s U-14 Girls
- Coach of the Year (Doug Sweetapple award) – Mike Power, Memorial University Women’s Team, NLSA Canada Games Women, NLSA GU16
- Executive of the Year (Ben Lake award) – Ian Chaytor, CBS Soccer Association
- Volunteer of the Year (Doug Redmond award) – Shane Dunphy, Burin Peninsula Soccer Association
- Referee of the Year (Ross Arlett award) – Shannon Tobin
Awards will be formally presented April 7, 2017 during the NLSA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies at the Comfort Inn in St. John’s.
Award winners (detail)
Junior Female Player of the Year – Judi Kelloway Award (Alexandra (Alex) Murphy)
Alexandra (Alex) Murphy has developed into one of the NLSA’s most promising up and coming young stars. Playing well beyond her years, she has demonstrated leadership and poise while earning the respect of players who are much her senior. Her technical ability and game understanding is at such a level that it caught the eye of two elite training centers across Canada.
Among her accomplishments for 2016, are:
- Played with the St. John’s Under 18 Team (at the age of 15) in the Provincial Jubilee Trophy League, while being among the top 5 goalscorers in the league
- Iderntified to travel to Nova Scotia on two occassions to train in the Halifax Regional Elite Program (REX)
- Selected to attend a week-long High-Performace camp with the Vancouver WhiteCaps Girls Elite Rex Program
Junior Male Player of the Year – George Innes Award (Brent Hennebury)
Brent Hennebury became a household name in 2016 by making NLSA history. At just 16 years of age, he became the youngest player ever to score the winning goal in the Challenge Cup Final. Brent did this by scoring the winning goal in St. Lawrence’s 2-1 overtime victory against Mount Pearl. Brent followed this goal up by again scoring the game winner at senior nationals when the Laurentians defeated New Brunswick 2-1. Brent’s goal again was scored in dramatic fashion, with the game winner coming during referee’s time, after the 90 minutes of regulation play had elapsed.
Brent Hennebury also had a great regular season in the 2016 NLSA Molson Challenge Cup League, scoring twice for the St. Lawrence Laurentians in regular season play. He was also a member of the 2016 NL Canada Games team which participated in Challenge Cup on an exhibition basis.
Laura Breen Award – Senior Female Player of the Year (Hannah Rivkin)
Hannah Rivkin is considered to be the engine of both her Holy Cross and Sea-Hawks soccer teams. Hannah is a tireless worker with incredible energy who plays both ends of the field. Her value to her team’s success in Jubilee Trophy is evident by her MVP selections in both the regular season and playoffs. In addition to her MVP awards, Hannah was named an AUS and CIS First Team All-star, a CIS Academic All-star and was invited to try out for Team Canada at the World University Games.
Brian Murphy Award – Senior Male Player of the Year (John Douglas)
John Douglas leads by example on and off the field and contributes to all levels of the game as both a coach and a player. During the course of the regular season, John allowed only 16 goals in a very competitive men’s division with six shut outs over a 22-game regular season. During the Final Four Championship weekend John only allowed two goals while earning one shut out. He alone backstopped the Laurentians to the Championship game with a spectacular three save penalty shootout over arch rivals Holy Cross during the semifinals. He again, performed the same heroics against the Mount Pearl team where his team went into the overtime to win the final. For his efforts, John was named the All-star Keeper for the 2016 Challenge Cup Season and was named the recipient of the 2016 Gerard Quirke Memorial Award as the playoff MVP.
Team of the Year – Angus Barrett Award – (St. John’s Under 14 Girls)
Promoted to compete in the Under 16 Girls Provincial League on an exhibition basis, the St. John’s under 14 Girls did not disappoint, finishing in second place. The experience of competing against stronger teams and older players, proved to be helpful at the national championships. With the opportunity to play for a medal, the team came up just short in the bronze medal match, losing 2-0 to Ontario. The team’s result at the nationals was the highest finish of all NL teams at the 2016 National Championships
Doug Sweetapple Coach of the Year Award – (Mike Power)
Mike Power’s professional approach to the details of coaching has taken the game to a new level. By using modern technology, he has shown his players their strengths and weaknesses. This new approach has helped guide players to new levels of success both on and off the field. In addition to his player and team success, he has earned the respect of the soccer community for his approach to coaching. Mike was recently named AUS Coach of the Year after guiding the Memorial University Sea-Hawks Women’s Team to a second-place regular season standing. Mike is also the Head Coach of the NLSA Canada Games Women’s team, while also serving as the 2016 Head Coach for the NLSA Under 16 Girls Soccer Team which earned a second-place finish at the 2016 Atlantic Championships.
Executive of the Year – Ben Lake Award – (Ian Chaytor)
Being around the soccer field is one indicator of a committed soccer executive. In the community of CBS, Ian Chaytor has certainly measured up to that distinction. For the past number of years Ian has had a hand in many aspects of growing the sport in his region. This past year, Ian has taken a lead in two major soccer events host by his community and the NLSA.
In CBS, Ian assumed the role of soccer convener for the Newfoundland and Labrador Summer Games. This role saw him involved in every aspect of making sure that soccer ran as smoothly as possible. At the National Senior and Men’s Women Championships, Ian was once again a member of the Host Committee with responsibilities for overseeing the CBS soccer facility. It was his duty to ensure that everything was operational on a timely basis. In addition to his logistics duties, Ian also found time to serve as one of the game announcers for the television broadcasts of the games.
Ian is currently the President of the CBS Soccer Association and represents the region of CBS on the NLSA Board of Directors
Volunteer of the Year – Doug Redmond Award (Shane Dunphy)
2016 has been another year in which Shane Dunphy has devoted himself to volunteering and the sport of soccer has been its beneficiary. In 2016, Shane worked with the Burin Peninsula Soccer Association and the Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Association at executive levels, manager’s level and at director’s level. In 2016, Shane organized tournaments and convened other tournaments. When not working in an administrative capacity, Shane was at the field coaching and officiating.
In 2016, Shane spearheaded the Burin Peninsula Hall of Fame Committee to review every potential soccer person on the Burin Peninsula who is a potential candidate for the BPSA HOF. Out of the committee’s select group he directed the BPSA HOF committee to nominate four BPSA candidates to the NLSA HOF Selection committee. Furthermore, he and his committee identified ten more candidates which are up for selection to the next BPSA HOF.
Some of Shane’s Volunteer Commitments include:
- Burin Peninsula Soccer Association President
- Burin Peninsula Hall of Fame Chairman
- Organized Sandy Wiscombe Annual Soccer Tournament
- Coached the Under 18 in 2016 Provincial B Championship
- Canada Games Assistant Coach
- Regional Technical Director / BPSA
- NLSA; Convener / Masters B Championship
- School Sports: High School 4A Convener
- NLSA / BPSA : Referee / Ast. Referee : Challenge Cup / Masters / High School
Referee of the Year – Ross Arlett Memorial Award (Shannon Tobin)
Shannon Tobin has been a regular in the refereeing circuit for the past number of years, rising to the rank of provincial level referee. He continues to referee in NLSA provincial leagues, St. John’s Soccer senior leagues, local high school leagues and the Atlantic University Sport soccer leagues. During this time, Shannon has been one of the most consistent and dependable referees. Shannon has also started mentoring young officials and helping to bring them along in their early refereeing career. Comments and feedback from young aspiring officials has been very positive about working with Shannon. One young referee said “I really enjoy working with him…I have learned so much this year and I can’t wait to work with him again next year.”
Shannon has been a regular in NLSA top senior leagues and always depended on for the top clashes. This past year Shannon refereed the Challenge Cup semi-final and also his first Challenge Cup Final on Labour Day weekend. This past October, Shannon was selected to represent NLSA as a local official for the senior nationals. Shannon did extremely well in this tournament and was noticed for giving extra help and knowledge towards the rest of local officials by providing support and motivation to do well. In addition to his consistency on the field, his willingness to help new officials goes to show his level and passion towards refereeing and commitment to bringing it forward.
