Summer heats up in Hollywood
Helena Vos repeats as Colonel Gray female athlete of the year
Helena Vos is in rare company.
She is one of only a handful of people to earn the female athlete of the year award at Colonel Gray High School twice.
“It is kind of special to me because not many people have (repeated),” she said. “It’s really nice to be able to finish with a big achievement like that.”
She is the first person to win the award in back-toback years since Jenna Mae Ellsworth won it all three seasons (2013-14 to 2015-16). Ellsworth and Jada Yeo were co-winners in 2016.
There are a few other two-time winners listed on the trophy, which dates back to 1981-82. They are Susan Knickle (1983-84 and 198485), Tobey Jones (1985-86 and 86-87), Tara Nogler (1990-91 and 1991-92), Karen Vos, who is no relation to
Helena, (1993-94 and 199495) and Maiqi Li (2009-10 and 2010-11 with Melanie McKenna).
Vos wasn’t expecting to win the award in 2019 as a Grade 11 student.
“When I heard my name being called, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I am getting this’. It felt really nice to be acknowledged,” she said.
This year, team awards were announced online while the major awards were presented in person at the athletes’ homes due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic.
“It was really nice for them to do that,” Vos said. “It was a nice kind of surprise to have.”
She entered this school year looking to continue to improve and step up her game. She didn’t disappoint. The 18-year-old Charlottetown resident ran cross country, played soccer and basketball and was part of the powerlifting team. She was the soccer team’s MVP.
Vos would have done badminton, rugby and track in the spring had the school sports season not been wiped out in mid-March by the pandemic.
Vos, who lives a stone’s throw from the Charlottetown school, did six sports in 2018-19 and added powerlifting to the mix this year.
Her rugby coach, Alex Field, suggested players could take up powerlifting and be more prepared for the upcoming season.
It’s a busy schedule. When one sport ends, another begins, but Vos wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I am pretty much going all the time,” she said. “I like being busy and getting involved in my school community through sports.”
She enjoyed her time as a Colonel and the sense of community alive in the school.
While Vos loves every sport she plays, her favourite is soccer. She has played it since she was five.
Vos is playing for the Winsloe-Charlottetown Royals varsity and under-18 teams this summer. She plays striker for the varsity squad and centre-midfield for the under-18s.
She will attend Holland College in the fall and play for her uncle, Jonathan Vos.
She eventually plans on pursuing a kinesiology degree at UPEI. Students can do the two-year sport and leisure management program at Holland College and then two years at UPEI to earn their degree.
Vos said she decided on the career path while rehabbing an injury.
“Seeing the physiotherapist being able to help athletes get back to a sport that they really love to play really opened my eyes,” she said. “I want to do something like this in the future.”