Lethbridge Sport Council announces 2026 Achievement Award winners

By Lethbridge Herald on February 18, 2026.

Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald

For the 16th year in a row, the Lethbridge Sport Council (LSC) recognized some of the best of the best in the Lethbridge sporting community.

LSC unveiled the full list of award winners at an event at their offices attached to Nicholas Sheran Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

LSC executive director Susan Eymann spoke to reporters following the announcement.

“It’s a day I look forward to.” Eymann said. “Of course, you follow sport, you watch sport all year, but until the nominations come in, you really don’t know the depth of the caliber of athletes and volunteers that are in this community that just make sport so wonderful.”

Several different sports were recognized in the award winners ranging from judo, rowing, swimming and boxing.

Addyson Tamura was named the junior female athlete of the year after a strong individual year in judo. She captured gold at the Canadian Cadet national championships in Edmonton, Pacific International in Vancouver and Edmonton International. She also competed in the Cadet Pan-Am championships in Peru and Panama Cadet PJC Cup in Panama. She has dreams of competing in the 2032 Summer Olympics, which are set to be hosted in Brisbane, Australia.

“It feels great putting all my hard work and everything and being recognized.” Tamura told reporters. “Judo is not really recognized in school sports so being recognized in other ways feels great. My dad did judo growing up so he put me and my brother in judo from a young age. I think we started at age three and we just kept doing it.”

With a wide range of sports being represented in the winners, Eymann says the ability to show off the sporting community in Lethbridge was a major reason that the awards were founded in the first place. 

“The reason we started having these awards is because the community had asked for them. There are a lot of smaller organizations that don’t have their own awards or even the larger organizations have their own awards but it’s really just their club so to be able to celebrate as a community is special for everyone.”

“Access to sport is so important. We’re watching the Olympics right now, and everyone who’s watching gets inspired by the Olympics. But if you’re not providing programming, then it doesn’t matter how inspired you are, there’s no accessibility. These parents are volunteering their time to help provide these programs for our children and youth. They’re doing an amazing job, but they’re always looking for new people. If someone’s watching who is going, I want to get connected. So many of the volunteer opportunities in sport are not sport specific. They’re looking for people who enjoy being part of a group who want to give back to the community, who may have different skills. It doesn’t matter if they know the sport or not, everyone’s welcome. That’s what makes the entire community so good. If you notice the awards, there’s quite a variety of sports being recognized.”

The youngest recipient of an award this year was Jaxen Brandt. He enjoyed a strong season last year with the Lethbridge Orcas Summer Swim Club and was awarded the Outstanding Sport Citizen Award for always having a positive attitude supporting his teammates during practices and meets. 

Brandt says he just wanted to make the sport enjoyable for everyone around him.

“I have many ways why I like swimming. First, swimming has a lot of competition and it’s not just about competition. It’s about having fun with others and encouraging them to do better in every way. It’s not just about the sport, it’s about everybody having fun together in each way and making it fun for everybody.”

LSC will host a formal award ceremony at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena lounge on Wednesday, April 15. 

Full List of LSC Achievement Award Winners

Junior Female Athlete: Addyson Tamura

Junior Male Athlete: Owen Parker

Senior Female Athlete: Jinaye Shomachuk

Senior Male Athlete: Kyle Oliver

Athlete with a Disability: Johan “Jay” Berner

Special Olympics Athlete: Aliya de Gruchy

Amateur Team: Yetis (U17 Level 1) Cheerleading

Coaching Excellence – Community: Cory Gillespie

Coaching Excellence – High Performance: Randy Bardock

Volunteer in Sport: Meadow Liversuch

Dr. Gary Bowie Sport Event Excellence: 2025 Alberta Roller Hockey Provincials

Business in Sport Excellence: Borderline Skateboard 

Sport Administrator: Neil Langevin

Sport Organization: Lethbridge Ringette Association

Servus Credit Union Outstanding Sport Citizen: Jaxen Brandt

Knud Peterson Spirit in Sport Award: Bernadine and Toby Boulet