Backers and builders
Lindsey Burgess and her cousin Karlee, both world class curlers, were among those honoured with special sporting awards Saturday.
Colchester County athletes took their place among the best in the province on Saturday as Sport Nova Scotia announced the winners of the 2018 Support4sport Awards.
Three local athletes were recipients of awards, while a wellknown Truro curling family was also honoured at the Halifax Convention Centre.
Truro snowboarder Liam Moffatt was named male individual athlete of the year, while cousins Karlee Burgess, of Hilden and Lindsey Burgess of Truro were members of the Kaitlyn Jones curling team that won the team of the year award. The Burgess family was the recipient of the Sport Nova Scotia chair’s award.
Valley softball umpire Clinton Harvey was a finalist for official of the year.
Moffatt, 20, had a great year as a rider on Canada’s snowboardcross development team. He accomplished his goals of earning a World Cup start, winning a North American Cup race and earning a permanent World Cup spot.
Following European training camp, Moffatt turned in a 32ndplace finish at the Turkey World Cup – the best finish for a Nova Scotia rider at a World Cup race.
He then won a North American Cup event at Mont-orignal in Quebec, while turning in other strong finishes that helped him earn a World Cup spot for the entire 2018-19 season.
The Burgess cousins helped the Jones rink win provincial, national and world junior curling titles. Karlee threw second stones and Lindsey was the team’s lead.
At the world championship in Aberdeen, Scotland, the Nova Scotia foursome defeated Sweden 7-4 in the final to claim the gold medal. The team’s coach, Andrew Atherton, shared coach of the
year honours on Saturday with David Kikuchi.
The Burgess family has been involved in the Truro curling community for more than 65 years. Since Avard Mann introduced his children to the sport in the 1950s, 16 members of the Burgess clan have excelled at the high-performance level.
Besides excelling as athletes,
the Burgess’s have given back to the sport through countless hours of volunteering, participating on board of director committees and coaching. The family has coached numerous teams to the world championship podium. Some are honourary lifetime members of the Truro Curling Club, and others have received distinctive awards throughout their careers.