When Leona Kitchen, Canora Composite School (CCS) cross-country and track-and-field coach, received the phone call saying she had won the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association (SHSAA) 2017 coach-of-the-year award for the East Central district, it was a true surprise.
Kitchen said she wasn’t even aware that she had been nominated, so the news that she had won the award was quite a shock.
She has been a coach throughout her teaching career. Kitchen said. One of her primary motivating factors for wanting to be a coach was her own experience as a student-athlete.
"I’ve had great coaches in my life,” she said. “And I think it is only fair to pay it forward and offer the same opportunities that I had, to the youth of today."
The SHSAA gives out two coaches awards each year for each of the 14 districts in the province, one male and one female. Winning the award against competition from across the east central district was a huge honour, said Kitchen.
One of the accomplishments that likely helped her win the award was that she’s taken athletes to provincials in both sports she coaches: cross-country and track-and-field.
According to the SHSAA website, criteria for the award include: conducting an outstanding program where student athletes learn a vast amount about the game and life, act as a proponent of good sportsmanship and instil these ideals through their coaching and interaction with athletes, and attempt to involve the entire school in the total program.
For Kitchen, the reward she gets from her work is much more than just counting how many top finishers she coaches.
“It’s really fun for me to open opportunities for students to achieve success outside the classroom and for them to learn life skills such as commitment, determination, perseverance and teamwork,” she said.
The only real downside to coaching is that it requires a significant commitment of her time. She is thankful for her family’s understanding in allowing her to do what she loves. Kitchen said her time commitment has paid off.
“I love seeing students push themselves to results they didn’t know they could achieve whether it’s a gold medal, or qualifying for provincials, or a personal best.”
She would like to meet and thank the person who nominated her for this prestigious award, but unfortunately Kitchen doesn’t know who that is. She’s hoping that will change at some point.
