The long-time principal at the Carnduff Education Complex (CEC) has been recognized for his commitment to sport at the high school level.
Ryan Nichols was the 2021 Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) Service Award winner for the South East District. The SHSAA announced the award on June 21, three days before the organization’s annual general meeting.
“I’m very honoured to receive it,” Nichols told the Mercury. “I definitely wasn’t expecting it, especially with how the year has gone with COVID and all of the restrictions, but it’s a great honour to receive it from the South East District, and the group of athletes and coaches I work alongside.”
Nichols has served on the South East District as president for 10 years, and was also the secretary. He has coached a variety of sports, including track and field, basketball, volleyball, golf and badminton, and he has officiated high-level basketball and volleyball.
High school sports have been part of his life for 20 years. Prior to coming to Carnduff in 2004 to become the first principal of the CEC, he was working at the Chinook School Division as the vice-principal of Gull Lake School and he worked at a First Nations school in northern Saskatchewan.
He has taken an active role in high school sport because of the great coaches he had as a high school athlete growing up in Moose Jaw.
“I also had fellow administrators when I first started teaching that they encouraged me to get involved in Saskatchewan high school athletics, and athletics in general to provide athletics and education for students, and to build relationships and a culture with the students in the schools I’ve been involved with,” he said.
It makes a school a better place, he said, when it has programs for athletes.
Nichols said he is proud of the ability to work with other coaches and administrators over the years. He continues to learn from other coaches, and he enjoys seeing other athletes from other schools. It allows him to associate with some great people.
Being involved in high school sports can be time consuming, because it’s time away from his family, but it’s rewarding to see kids be successful, and Carnduff has had a number of young people advance to opportunities at the university level.
“It’s neat watching kids grow from a Grade 9 athlete to a Grade 12 athlete, and seeing them enjoy the sport, and then watching them continuing on, and getting involved in other communities when they move away.”
Nichols expects he will remain involved with high school sports and the South East District executive for some time.
A video posted to YouTube had photos of Nichols involvement with the CEC Tigers and a tribute message from Bill Crossman, a former SHSAA Merit Award recipient. Crossman noted that when Nichols arrived in Carnduff in 2004, they began to work together.
“Over the next six years, I saw your dedication to high school athletics and a caring approach to the students in our school,” Crossman said.
When Nichols took over from Crossman as the president of the South East District, Crossman said he felt very confident in the leadership Nichols would provide.
