By Evan Midford, Website & Social Media Coordinator
Welcome to the 2021 Sport Manitoba Coaching Awards presented by Club Regent & Event Centre!
Below are our winners and finalists from each of our seven categories.
Congratulations to all of our phenomenal coaches and don’t forget to join in on the celebration on social media. Use the hashtag #SMCA2021
Vince Leah Memorial Award – Fundamentals
Female – Lindsay Enns
Male – Oneil White
Finalists
Jordan Sobkowicz
Jordan Sobkowicz has coached at nearly every level of hockey from Under-9, Junior, Senior, and High School. He was the Head Coach of the Team Manitoba female team in 2015, the Assistant Coach for the Team Manitoba female team at the 2019 Canada Games, and the Assistant Coach with the Team Manitoba male team at the 2019 WHL Cup. Jordan has also been a clinic facilitator, coach evaluator, and a group leader at the high-performance seminar for the past several years.
Kati Auger
Kati Auger has been coaching baseball for over 5 years and has volunteered her time in every aspect of baseball in the town of Russell. Kati works tirelessly to keep baseball going in the community and volunteers to coach at any level she is needed.
Konica Minolta Dr. Jack Hunt Memorial Award – Learn to Train
Female – Tanya Pilat
Male – Dave Lipchen
Finalist
Russell Wallace
Russell Wallace has been coaching a variety of sports, including football, for 15 years and is currently the Head Coach at West Kildonan Collegiate. Russell is well known for his passion for coaching and his willingness to speak to coaches about their practice plans and building their coaching philosophy. He is described as very respectful and someone who constantly practices what he preaches. Russell enjoys being a role model for his players and continually shows that he is a life-long learner of the game. Russell has focused on football as his major sport to coach, but he takes all of his coaching positions with pride. He enjoys taking his knowledge and providing a fun and healthy game to his players, regardless of the sport.
Janet Arnott Memorial Award – Train to Train
Female – Reagan Croy
Male – Ron Struch
Finalists
Wendy Shewchuk
Wendy Shewchuk has been coaching swimming since 1988. She has been a Swimming Learning Facilitator since 2005, a Swimming Fundamentals Coach Evaluator since 2010, and was the Co-Coach of the Western Canada Summer Games Swim Team in 2019. Throughout her coaching career, Wendy has consistently demonstrated her passion for the sport and her commitment to the growth and success of swimming in Manitoba.
Nick Lother
Nick Lother is one of Manitoba’s up and coming basketball coaches. This year, during the early days of the pandemic, Nick did an amazing job of providing the opportunity for players to still train and develop by forming a new club called Evolve Basketball. Outside of the club, Nick is currently the Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at Vincent Massey Collegiate. He has been described as a shining light in the basketball community amid all the difficult times facing the sport in the last year.
MASRC Indigenous Male Coach of the Decade
Dale Bear
Peter Williamson Memorial Award – Train to Compete/Train to Win
Female – Jayme Menzies (MASRC Indigenous Female Coach of the Decade)
Male – Sheldon Zacharias
Finalists
Dallas Ludwick
Dallas Ludwick has been a diving coach for 22 years and has been the Head Coach of Revolution Diving for more than 5 of those years. Dallas is described by her peers as a compassionate person with relentless drive. Folks identify that she always has the right balance of disciplined coaching while still creating a fun, safe environment for athletes. Dallas has recently been recognized by Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) as one of the most outstanding coaches in Canada and received the Diving Plongeon Canada Team Awesome Award for 2020.
Garth Pischke
Garth Pischke is most often defined as one of the most successful and respected volleyball coaches in Canada. Garth was the Head Coach of the University of Manitoba Men’s Volleyball team for 38 seasons and was highly involved in each of his player’s lives on and off the court. His university volleyball program was continuously known to produce young men who were champions in volleyball and outside of the game. During his time with the Bisons, he won 2 Canada West Championships, 9 CIS Championships, and was named CIS Coach of the Year 6 times. On the International level, Pischke coached the Canadian Men’s National Volleyball Team from 1996 to 2000. During these years, the team went from being ranked 21st in the world to being ranked 10th in the world.
International Coach Recognition
Ayach Bounachada – Fencing
In February 2020, Ayach Bounachada was the official coach for Canada at the Cadet and Junior Pan American Championships in El Salvador. This year, he coached several fencing athletes internationally in the United States, Netherlands, Great Britain, Peru, as well as across Canada.
Vlastimil Cerny – Swimming
From October 24 to November 16, Vlastimil Cerny coached Kelsey Wog at the International Swimming League in Budapest, Hungary. At this event, Kelsey won 15 medals (6 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze) with 4 provincial records in 5 matches.
John Lund – Curling
In February 2020, John Lund coached the Jacques Gauthier Junior Men’s Curling Team that won gold at the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Sheldon Zacharias – Curling
In February 2020, Sheldon Zacharias coached the Mackenzie Zacharias Junior Women’s Curling Team that won gold at the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Stephen Fedus – Football
From January 9-20, 2020, Stephen Fedus coached football at the International Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
Years of Service
Mike Krykewich – Baseball
For over 30 years, Mike Krykewich has made many valuable contributions to Baseball Manitoba and Baseball Canada. Provincially, he has coached all levels from Rally Cap to Canada Games. Nationally, he was a guest coach for the Women’s National Team in 2009 and was awarded Baseball Canada’s Coach of the Year in 2011. Internationally, he has taken his coaching skills to Cuba, Japan, and England to help promote the game of baseball. One of his greatest achievements was starting a baseball program at the University of Winnipeg. He has selflessly assisted many of our provincial grassroots programs such as Hit-Run-Throw, Rookie Jamboree, and Winterball, while also serving as the Rally Cap Coordinator for the Bonivital Baseball Association for three years. In addition, Mike is a Master Coach Developer in the NCCP system where he has impacted a great number of coaches over the years. In 2016, Mike was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.
