After a year of hard work, athletes at Three Lakes School in Middle Lake were recognized at their 16th annual athletic banquet.
The June 14 banquet in the Three Lakes gym saw 22 different athletes collect more than 50 awards in a variety of age groups including grades 4-6, junior, and senior in a variety of different sports including cross country, volleyball, soccer, curling, basketball, badminton, and track and field.
The Avengers also handed out awards for official of the year, sports volunteer of the year, the intramural award given out to the top team throughout the year, participation, and spirit given to the male and female athlete who show sportsmanship, leadership, and team spirit.
Hosting a night like the awards banquet is a great chance to reflect on another year, with athletic director and principal Trevor Otsig noting whether the athletes won or not they still worked to be part of a team, and is a chance to recognize their accomplishments.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to build good citizens here at Three Lakes and it鈥檚 not always about winning. Winning鈥檚 always nice but it鈥檚 about the process and what you learn along the way.鈥�
Between the hard work of the coaches and athletes, it was a banner year for Three Lakes athletics, with the school claiming 4 provincial medals, including three gold, and one silver.
This marked an improvement upon the 2016-2017 season, which saw the Avengers claim one gold and one silver.
Otsig notes the success came from a buy in from everyone, noting the athletes, coaches, and parents all played their part.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a long season and a lot of hard work and dedication.鈥�
The hard work of the athletes was particularly evident when it came to selecting the winners, with Otsig noting many of them were difficult decisions.
鈥淲e met for a few hours over some of them鈥� for some of them it鈥檚 flipping a coin here or there but we鈥檝e always said one winner only,鈥� he noted.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always something that can usually define the difference between one and the other if you get right down to it.鈥�
The Avengers enjoyed excellent seasons in a number of sports, with Otsig noting his highlights of the year were watching the kids grow, winning double basketball gold, and playing Kenaston in girls basketball once again.
鈥�(Kenaston coach Gene Zdunich is) an old friend and that was a tiebreaker so to beat them three out of five times, that鈥檚 always nice鈥� but just watching some of these kids, like both boys and girls(basketball) teams winning in the same gym. We had most of the towns between Middle Lake, St. Ben. and Pilger, people supporting and watching online, that鈥檚 pretty special.鈥�
Seeing that support is nothing new to Middle Lake, with their gym being full each time one of their teams hits the floor, which is something Otsig says is great to see, noting people seem to come whether they currently have, had, or do not have any affiliation to the team or school.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have hockey in Middle Lake so the gym鈥檚 kind of our small Saskatchewan hockey rink and people, whether they have any relations or not, are coming down to watch games and it鈥檚 awesome. The kids love playing in front of a crowd and it makes for a lot better game.鈥�
With the athletics banquet now in the books Otsig and the rest of the athletics program will enjoy a summer break, before returning to school in the fall looking to build on an excellent 2017-2018 athletics season.
