Rita Mingo nets CIS honour
Calgary sports writer Rita Mingo is being honoured by the Canada West university sports conference.
Mingo, who writes for both the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, was named the 2015-16 recipient of the Fred ‘Gus’ Collins Award Thursday for her ongoing coverage of Canada West and its athletes.
“I’m honoured to win this award and that the University of Calgary put my name forth,” said Mingo, who has covered Calgary sports since 1984 when she moved to the city. “It means more to me to win an award named after Gus since he’s a friend and he’s a true character.”
Mingo has ably covered many significant Calgary university players and teams, including the Dinos football team’s third Vanier Cup title in 1988 and its six consecutive Hardy Cup wins from 2008-13, the Dinos women’s basketball team’s national championship win in 1989 and this year’s Dinos men’s basketball squad’s trip to the CIS Final 8.
The award is presented each year to a member of the media selected by Canada West’s sports information directors. The winner becomes the Canada West nominee for the national Fred Sgambati Award, which is presented by Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
Collins landed with the Herald’s sports department in the late 1970s after working at a variety of papers in Western Canada, and helped compile Canada West statistics and scores from 1979-99. He also served as the Calgary Cannons triple-A baseball club’s official scorer.
Collins died at age 65 in Calgary in 2005.