Eric Smith and Katie Watts have been named male and female athletes of the 2009-10 year at the Durham College Athletic Banquet.
It was a night of excitement, team spirit, honour and excellence as athletes from the college were honoured at the 40th annual banquet, March 26.
Smith is Durham College’s male basketball star. He finished his sophomore year with an average of 19.2 points per game. He sits among the top 10 point scorers in Durham College men’s basketball history. Smith can be proud of his 188 rebounds this year, as well as his 756 career points. He was also awarded the men’s basketball MVP.
Katie Watts, the female athlete of the year, was a part of both the women’s soccer team, as well as the women’s basketball team. Although she was an active player on the basketball team, after winning the MVP in women’s soccer, it’s evident that soccer is her sport. Watts scored a respectable 18 goals in her 2009-10 season, and earned herself the title of Durham’s highest scorer with 38 goals in her soccer career. Watts averaged 1.64 goals per game this year.
The athletes were looking their finest as they gathered at Trillium Trails in Oshawa, 10 minutes north of Durham College on Simcoe Street. The sun set over the beautiful Trillium Trails scenery as the banquet began. Presentation of awards followed dinner was served.
Two athletes who were also recognized for their achievements and dedication to the Durham sports programs were Jamie Taylor and Mandi Doris, both volleyball players.
Taylor received the first award of the evening, the Four Year Award, which turned out to be the first of three awards for him.
Doris was an Olympic torch bearer during the torch run this year. She was honoured at the banquet for her five years of play with the volleyball team receiving the Five Year Award. Doris left with her arms full, receiving four awards throughout the evening.
The Team of the Year award went to the Durham Lords women’s soccer team. These girls managed to defeat the Humber Hawks, the team ranked first, in the semi-finals. They collected the most goals scored in the history of the Ontario College Athletic Assocation, a total of 59. The team ended with an OCAA silver medal. The girls were led by first year head coach Dave Staley.
All athletes, award recipients or not, were honoured with a 10-minute video. The video featured a slideshow of photos of every team. It showed teammate friendships, coaches, Durham pride and a lot of emotion. The video was narrated by Courtney Small of the men’s basketball team.
“It was a rollercoaster,” Small says. Losing guys on the team was an obstacle this year.
Small was the recipient of two separate leadership awards and admits that keeping the team together was one of the more difficult aspects while playing for Durham.
Although there was no official host for the evening, Ken Babcock, director of Athletics and Recreation, announced the awards and led the evening for the athletes. Babcock handed out thank yous to various people throughout the night, as well as providing statistics regarding the sports teams. One of the stats was that all of the Durham sports teams combined accumulated more than 36, 000 highway kilometres, travelling to games and tournaments. All teams trained for 1,044 hours, or 43 days of practice.
Gord Williamson was honoured for his dedication at the banquet. Although, the head coach for the men’s volleyball team had previously announced his retirement, he was given a milestone award, honouring his 13 seasons with Durham College.
Overall, it was an exciting evening. There were smiles all around, some tears and a lot of celebration after a good year.
Robbie Untinen of the golf team won Rookie of the Year. He says his first year was a good one.
“I had a great time with the team,” he said.
