On Tuesday, Dec. 6, Yorkton Minor Football hosted its awards banquet at Yorkton Regional High School. The banquet recognized athletes from the peewee, junior and senior football teams.
Each year, a special guest speaker attends the banquet and gives a speech to the young players in Yorkton. This year’s speaker was Layne Hull – a former player from Yorkton Regional High School who now plays as a linebacker for Okanagan Sun, a Canadian Junior Football team in British Columbia.
Hull’s speech included memories of his time spent as a Raider, the relationship he had with his coaches and the journey he took that brought him to his spot with the Sun.
The awards given to the football teams started with the Pee Wee team.
The Rudy award went to Taylor Spokowski. The Rookie of the Year award went to Jake Farrell. The Most Determined and Most Dedicated award went to Tannon Keltie. The Top Lineman was awarded to Shay-Lynn Pelletier. The Most Valuable Defensive Player award was given to Kenton Effa. The Most Valuable Offensive Player award went to Jaxon Boyda. And the team MVP was John Stoll.
Next up was the Junior Raider Gridders of Yorkton Regional High School. The most Determined and Most Dedicated player was Dakota Hoffman-Ward. The Diamond Award went to Bryant Jones. The ‘I love football’ award was given to Tasso Stamatinos. The Most Improved Player award went to Jevauntae Williams. The Top Lineman was Riley Richards. The Rookie of the Year was Brad Heskin. The Defensive Player of the Year was shared between Tyler Harasymuk and Habe Loster. The Offensive Player of the Year was Carson Sveinbjornson. And the team MVP was Garion Miller.
The final awards of the night were given to the Senior Raider Gridders from Yorkton Regional High School. These awards started off by recognizing two grade ten players who would be awarded the Huskie Scholarship – full funding to attend a Huskies training camp. These winners were quarterback Jordin Rusnack and David Neumeier.
The most improved player for the senior Raiders was Maverick Schneider. The Rudy award and the Graduating Player award (voted on by the team) both went to Brayden Jarvis. The Coach’s Award went to Christian Hansen. The Tenacious Hitter award went to Zach Fleury. The Enthusiasm Award was given to Ben Koroluck. The Top Scholar award was given to Matthew Balysky. The Top Lineman was Jed Stratchra. The Rookie of the Year was Jordin Rusnack. The Offensive MVP was Matthew Balyski. The Defensive MVP was U’Sinne Langford. And the overall team MVP was Matthew Mandziuk.
An additional award was given out to the volunteers of the year, and this award was given to Matty and Tracey Harasymuik.
