The Foothills Composite Grade 12 Female Athlete of the Year will have some help this fall from a scholarship that happens to have some personal ties.
An emotional Kennedy Schaalje showed some tears after she was named the first recipient of the Shirley Olson Memorial Scholarship at the Foothills Falcons Athletics Awards banquet Thursday at the Comp.
Shirley Olson, who passed away in 2015 from breast cancer, was the wife of Falcons athletic director and football coach Darren Olson.
“It’s emotional — Mr. Olson actually taught my dad in Wilcox, Sask. (at famed Notre Dame),” Schaalje said. “I have looked up to Mr. Olson since then — and just that connection with my dad and Mr. Olson.
“My dad has been one of my biggest supporters in my life. This is just super emotional.”
Kennedy wasn’t the only one with tears when Olson presented the scholarship. Dad also got choked up.
“I was a waterfall,” Gregg Schaalje said. “Mr. Olson was my football coach — we were second in the province — and he was my Grade 12 teacher. I knew Mrs. Olson as well because she taught there.
“I don’t cry very often, but this was very special for us.”
The scholarship was the brainchild of principal Vince Hunter. But like a lot of things at the Comp, it was student generated.
The funds came from the students selling long-sleeved Falcon colours technical shirts with a pink ribbon on the back.
The criteria went beyond athletics. Applicants had to be student-athletes with the emphasis on student, as well as being good ambassadors for the Comp and the community. They also had to submit a 500-word essay. Schaalje, an honours with distinction student, plans to go to the University of Saskatchewan to study animal medical science in the fall, with the long-term goal of getting into the school’s prestigious veterinary school.
“Looking back on it, it was hard work, but I am proud of how I did,” Kennedy said of the past school year. “I have always considered myself as a leader. I put my heart and soul into everything. I never met Mr. Olson’s wife, but to be honoured with something like this is just amazing.”
Schaalje was a standout on the Falcons girls soccer team, being selected Foothills MVP. She was also a workhorse for the league champion Falcons senior girls basketball squad — doing the dirty work on the boards and on defence.
“I have played both sports since as long as I can remember, so I don’t really think I could pick a favourite,” Schaalje said. “I like to think I am a little bit better soccer player. In basketball, there were so many great players on the team. I was a centre/post and I really liked cleaning up the boards as much as I could.”
She said going to provincials in basketball was the highlight of her sports year, despite the team struggling at the tournament.
“The team was so close and to be able to represent my school at the highest level was a great honour — just to be able to take it all in,” she said.
The Grade 12 Male Athlete of the Year was Gavin Millard, who played football, basketball and rugby for the Falcons. He has accepted a scholarship at Queen’s University where he will study engineering.
The Grade 11 Male Athlete of the Year was Tyler Ziehl, with the female award going to Chayle Clark. She has been a rock in terms of athletics. She has been the female athlete of the year at her school since Grade 7 when she was an Okotoks Ocelot.
The Grade 10 Female Athlete of the Year was Teah Simard.
David Kent-Canalejo was the Grade 10 Male Athlete of the Year.
The recipients of the Foothills Falcons Athletic Awards banquet were: Varsity Girls Soccer: Rookie of the year: Megan Flegel
Varsity Girls Soccer: Coaches Award: Luknam Wangkhiree
Varsity Girls Soccer: MVP: Kennedy Schaalje
Varsity Boys Soccer: Rookie of the Year: Tanner Young
Varsity Boys Soccer: Most Improved: Josh Sims
Varsity Boys Soccer: Coaches Award: Will Pearce
Varsity Boys Soccer: MVP: David Kent-Canalejo
Cheer Team: Rookie of the Year: Rosie Mosson
Cheer Team: Most Improved: Skylend Gough
Cheer Team: Sportsmanship: Brookelyn Willis
Cheer Team: Leadership: Bailey Robertson
Cheer Team: MVP: Shaelyn Scott
Cross Country: Outstanding Female: Sidney Kincaid
Cross Country: Outstanding Male: Pedro Pardo
Golf: Outstanding Female: Amlika Nair
Golf: Outstanding Male: Jagger Thiessen
JV Girls Volleyball: Rookie of the Year: Alli Taylor
JV Girls Volleyball: Most Improved: Jessica Holden
JV Girls Volleyball: Most Inspirational: Teah Simard
JV Girls Volleyball: MVP: Emily Gushulak
JV Boys Volleyball: Rookie of the Year: David Kent-Canalejo
JV Boys Volleyball: Most Improved: Kyle Tarasoff
JV Boys Volleyball: Most Inspirational: Tanner Young
JV Boys Volleyball: MVP: Quinn Tocheniuk
Sr Girls Volleyball: Rookie of the Year: Jessa Meyer
Sr Girls Volleyball: Coaches Award: Chayle Clark
Sr Girls Volleyball: Most Inspirational: Skylar Van Der Kooi
Sr Girls Volleyball: MVP: Ally Bymak
Sr Boys Volleyall: Rookie of the year: Ben Rahn
Sr Boys Volleyall: Most Improved: Cody Guttridge
Sr Boys Volleyall: Most Inspirational: Ben Parkinson
Sr Boys Volleyball: MVP: Liam Hall Kaelen Stewart
Wrestling: Outstanding Male: Erick Osberg
Badminton: Top Female: Kirsten Tarasoff
Badminton: Top Male: Ryan Humeniuk
Track and Field Top Jr. Male: Cadyn Schmyr
Track and Field Top Jr. Female: Logan Golonoski
Track and Field Top Intermediate Female: Jaiden Hansen
Track and Field Top Intermediate Male: Pedro Pardo
Track and Field Top Sr Female: Rachel Mathieson
Track and Field Top Sr Male: Trey Kellogg
Jr Girls Basketball: Most Improved: Erica Holden
Jr Girls Basketball: Coaches Award: Alli Taylor
Jr Girls Basketball: MVP: Georgia Edey
JV Boys Basketball: Most Improved: Jack Tocher
JV Boys Basketball: Coaches Award: David Kent-canalejo
JV Boys Basketball: MVP: Tyson Pitcher, Hakeem Yatim
Varsity Girls Basketball: Rookie of the Year: Jaiden Hansen
Varsity Girls Basketball: Coaches Award: Katie Stuart
Varsity Girls Basketball: MVP: Hannah Helton
Varsity Boys Basketball: Rookie of the Year: Josh Derochie
Varsity Boys Basketball: Most Improved: Tyler Ziehl
Varsity Boys Basketball: Most inspirational: Gavin Millard
Varsity Boys Basketball: Most Valuable: Adam Pahl
Girls Rugby: Rookie of the Year: Rylee Krauss
Girls Rugby: Most Improved: Ireland McAnally
Girls Rugby: Most Valuable Forward: Larissa Little
Girls Rugby: Most Valuable Back: Olivia Glabus
Girls Rugby: Coaches Award: Sydney Pardo
Girls Rugby: MVP: Annaliese Curtis
Boys Rugby: Rookie of the Year: Brendan Lowry
Boys Rugby: Most Improved: Gavin Millard
Boys Rugby: Most Valuable Forward: Dan Kovalchuk
Boys Rugby: Most Valuable Back: Thomas Isherwood
Boys Rugby: Coaches Award: Jesse Munro
Football: Special Teams Player: Seth Nelson
Football: Lineman: Gavin Millard, Liam Hamlyn
Football: Defensive Rookie: Seth Nelson
Football: Offensive Rookie: Payton Price
Football: Defensive Player of the Year: Daylor Creason
Football: Offensive Player of the Year: Landon Rose, Brendan Lowry
Football: MVP: Trey Kellogg
Grade 10 Female Athlete of the Year: Teah Simard
Grade 10 Male Athlete of the Year: David Kent-Canalejo
Grade 11 Female Athlete of the Year: Chayle Clark
Grade 11 Male Athlete of the Year: Tyler Ziehl
Grade 12 Female Athlete of the Year: Kennedy Schaalje
Grade 12 Male Athlete of the Year: Gavin Millard