WRIGHT HONOURED BY SPORT BC

Women's Soccer (Sport BC)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
University Athlete of the Year Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WRIGHT HONOURED BY SPORT BC

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LANGLEY, British Columbia - Last night at the Sport BC 43rd annual Athlete of the Year Awards Ceremony Trinity Western University's Nikki Wright (Surrey, B.C.) became the first Spartan to be named the Sport BC University Athlete of the Year. Wright beat out fellow university athlete's; wrestler Miranda Dick of Simon Frasers University and volleyball player Gord Perrin of Thompson Rivers University for the prestigious award. The ceremony, which was presented by Telus was held at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond, B.C.

After the ceremony Wright commented on her adding the award to her increasingly crowded trophy self. "This is an amazing award and I'm still in shock. It is a huge feat for our team. This is award shows the efforts of our entire team and how they backed me up all year. They are really the main reason why I am here and have had any recognition at all this season they have been pushing me all the way. The coaching staff has pushed me all season to go harder and take the bigger step forward. Their hours of work have really pushed me further."

"It is a tremendous accomplishment which caps off a fantastic first season for her. We knew she was going to be a special player for us, but nobody expected her first year to be quite so special," commented TWU head women's soccer coach Graham Roxburgh. "Not only is it is a great achievement for Nikki, but it also says something about our team. You need a team to be behind a special player and to do what Nikki did she obviously needed her teammates as well. I'm very proud of Nikki and our team."

This past year Wright helped lead the Spartans to the gold medal in 2008 CIS women's soccer national championship. For her efforts at the tournament Wright was named to the tournament all-star team.

Prior to the start of the championship Wright was named CIS rookie of the year and first team all-Canadian. Wright is the first Spartan women's soccer player to be named CIS rookie of the year since Trinity Western joined Canada West in 2001.

The graduate of Langley Secondary School scored twice as many goals as the next best freshman in the nation during the regular season, winning the Canada West scoring race and placing sixth in CIS with 12 markers in 14 games. She also led Canada West in points (18) and game-winning goals (4) as the Spartans finished second with a 9-2-3 league record and went on to reach the conference final.

Wright, a human kinetics major, is the first player to be named Canada West rookie of the year and MVP in the same season since the conference began handing out soccer awards in 1995 and earned a spot on the first all-Canadian team in her university debut.

"I was so surprised when they said my name. It was a huge shock I didn't think I would be up there. I couldn't believe I was with the group," commented Wright when asked about her being named with such a prestigious group of award winners. "It is a great honour to be with all the other athletes. It is just incredible to be put in the same group as them."

This year's finalists represent 17 BC communities and 18 different sports, highlighting the depth of sporting achievements seen throughout the province. For the most part, award recipients were chosen by a selection committee, composed of more than 30 sports media representatives and sport leaders from around the province. The Daryl Thompson Award recipient was selected by Sport BC's Board of Directors from nominations brought forth by Sport BC's member organizations.

The public was invited to vote for the SportsFunder Community Champion Award. This award recognizes an athlete who has made extraordinatory contributions on and off the field and in doing so has inspired others to get in the game and do the same. In the spirit of the award, SportsFunder granted $10,000 on behalf of Steve Nash to KidSportTM BC, to help officially launch the 27th Community Chapter in BC, Vancouver.

About Athlete of the Year Awards presented by TELUS:
The Athlete of the Year Awards is the longest-standing sport recognition event in the country. Awards in 16 different categories are given each year to athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers based on their performance and contribution to sport in the province. The awards play a valuable role in nurturing athletic success and recognizing some of BC's growing talents, such as past recipients Nancy Greene-Raine (Senior Female Athlete of the Year Award 1967 and 1968, Alpine Skiing), Rick Hansen (Athlete with a Disability Award 1979 and 1980, Wheelchair Athletics) Scott Niedermeyer (Senior Male Athlete of the Year Award 1991, Ice Hockey) and James Lepp (Junior Male Athlete of the Year 2001/Senior Male Athlete of the Year 2003 and 2005, Golf). For further information on the 43rd Annual Athlete of the Year Awards presented by TELUS, please visit www.sport.bc.ca.

About Sport BC:
Sport BC is a not-for-profit organization built on the belief of creating and sustaining healthy communities. For more than 40 years Sport BC has been the federation for organized amateur sport in British Columbia; providing valuable shared services and value-added programs to its membership, and the sport sector. Sport BC represents more than 80 member organizations including 65 Provincial Sport Organizations. For more information www.sport.bc.ca.

About Trinity Western University:
Trinity Western University, located in Langley, B.C., is a not-for-profit Christian liberal arts university enrolling over 4,000 students this year. With a broad based, liberal arts and sciences curriculum, the University offers undergraduate degrees in 41 major areas of study ranging from business, education and computer science to biology and nursing, and 17 other graduate degrees including counselling psychology, theology and administrative leadership. For more information, visit TWU's Official Athletics site at gospartans.ca.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport:
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. The CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, and 32 World University Championships. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.

About CWUAA
"Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year since 1997-98. Comprised of 14 schools, from Manitoba to B.C., the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in events such as the Olympics or Universiade Games."

-TW-

 

Last Updated: 2009-09-03
Author: Scott Stewart