2023 Scholarship Presentation at Shaw Park

Aug. 24, 2023

Every year all of us at Baseball Manitoba look forward to presenting our scholarships at Shaw Park. Last night, three Field of Dreams Scholarships, five Baseball Manitoba Scholarships, and the Andrew Budge Memorial Scholarship were presented to all recipients before the Goldeyes faced off against the Sioux Falls Canaries.

Learn more about the winners below:

Winnipeg Goldeyes - Baseball Manitoba "Field of Dreams" Scholarships:

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Colson Smith - Field of Dreams

Photo left to right: Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Andrew Collier, GM of the Winnipeg Goldeyes; Tony Fletcher, President of the Winnipeg Goldeyes Field of Dreams Foundation; Donnie Smith, Colson Smith's father. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

From St Andrews, Colson has always played baseball whether it be at a provincial, community, or school level. He specifically played for the AAA North Winnipeg Pirates in the past and this year he was a starting catcher for the 22U Elmwood Giants. He graduated from Garden City Collegiate with Honor Roll status this past June and is continuing his education at South Suburban College this August studying Business Administration.

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Ethan Minaker - Field of Dreams

Photo left to right: Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Andrew Collier, GM of the Winnipeg Goldeyes; Tony Fletcher, President of the Winnipeg Goldeyes Field of Dreams Foundation; Noah Minaker, Ethan Minaker's brother. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

Ethan is from St Andrews and played the last two seasons with the St Boniface Legionnaires, the 2023 22U Manitoba Junior Baseball League Champions. As one of the top pitchers in the province, he was also picked up by the 22U Elmwood Giants for the 2023 22U Mens National Championships that took place this August in Stonewall. He also umpires and volunteers in his community, and plans to continue his education at Barton Community College this fall where he will be studying education.

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Landon Gudnason - Field of Dreams

Landon has played AAA baseball out of Pembina Hills, Altona, Bladur, and his hometown of Glenboro. He attended the 2023 North American Indigenous Games this past July and was also accepted into the Home Run Sports Training Academy and competed this summer at the Tucson Invitational Games Tournament in Arizona. This fall, he is attending Okanagan College in Kelowna, British Columbia where he will be taking an Associates of Arts Degree with plans to enter an education program focusing on Indigenous Studies and Math, all while playing on the Okanagan Coyotes Baseball team.

Photo left to right: Noah Minaker, Ethan Minaker's brother; Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Andrew Collier, GM of the Winnipeg Goldeyes; Tony Fletcher, President of the Winnipeg Goldeyes Field of Dreams Foundation; Landon Gudnason; Donnie Smith, Colson Smith's father. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

Baseball Manitoba Scholarships:

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Tyson Vassart - Canada Cup Provincial Team Player

Photo left to right: Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Lori and Jeff Vassart, Tyson Vassart's parents. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

From La Salle, Tyson is a proud member of the Winnipeg South baseball community. He began his baseball career at his home club of Macdonald and has since played for the Winnipeg South Wolves from ages 13U and above, the 13U and 17U Baseball Manitoba Provincial Teams, has represented Manitoba at the Canada Summer Games, and was selected to attend the Toronto Blue Jays Futures Showcase as one of the top 75 baseball players in Canada where he earned a spot on the All-Star team. He was also awarded the 2022 Baseball Manitoba 18U Player of the Year award. This fall, he plans to attend Hutchinson Community College to continue his studies and play for the Hutchinson Blue Dragons.

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Kieran Reid - Coach

Photo left to right: Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Kieran Reid Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

Kieran has been involved with his home baseball region of Pembina Hills for many years not only as a coach but as a player and umpire. He has coached 9U, 11U, and 15U age groups in his hometown of Manitou, and has dedicated much of his recent time and effort to training and becoming a better coach for his community. He plans to attend the University of Manitoba Faculty of Science degree program this fall, with a long-term goal of becoming a high-school teacher with the hopes of coaching multiple high-school sports.

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Jewell Thompson - Female Provincial Team Player

Photo left to right: Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Jewell Thompson Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

From MacGregor, Jewell played on three of the Baseball Manitoba Provincial Teams in 2022, the Senior Women’s Team, the 21U Women’s Team, and the 16U Girls Team, and once again made the Senior Women’s team in 2023. She travelled to Nova Scotia with the Senior Women’s team for Nationals this past July. She is attending the University of Winnipeg this fall to pursue a Kinesiology Degree with a future goal of becoming an athletic therapist, as well as completing a physical therapy degree from the University of Manitoba.

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Ryder Duncan - Non-Provincial Team Player

Photo left to right: Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; David Duncan, Ryder Duncan's uncle. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

In the past three years, Ryder has played for the Bonivital Black Sox, the St Boniface Legionnaires, and the Vancouver Island University Mariners, and participated in the North American Indigenous Games for Team Manitoba. As a multi-sport athlete, he also participated in as many extracurricular sports as possible in his last two years of high school, such as volleyball, basketball, and hockey. He plans on pursuing baseball at a higher level while completing a degree from Vancouver Island University this fall.

Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Alexandre Lambert - Umpire

Photo left to right: Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Alexandre Lambert. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

Alexandre has been extremely active in his community of Lorette over the past three years. He played on his high school and community teams and acted as a scorekeeper, all while officiating in multiple different leagues across the province. While continuing to umpire, he also plans to attend Red River College Ploytech this fall to complete a Creative Communications Degree majoring in Journalism.

Photo left to right: David Duncan, Ryder Duncan's uncle; Jewell Thompson; Rick Macdonald, Jaxon Macdonald's father; Wendy Budge, Andrew Budge's mother; Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Jolene Macdonald, Jaxon Macdonald's mother; Kieran Reid; Alexandre Lambert; Lori and Jeff Vassart, Tyson Vassart's parents. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

Andrew Budge Memorial Scholarship - Awarded To/Accepted on Behalf Of Jaxon Macdonald

Photo left to right: Rick Macdonald, Jaxon Macdonald's father; Wendy Budge, Andrew Budge's mother; Goldie, Winnipeg Goldeyes' Mascot; Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba's VP of Umpires; Jolene Macdonald, Jaxon Macdonald's mother. Photo Credit: 1812 Photography

From MacGregor, Jaxon has played for Pembina Hills, Portage, and St. James. Some of his recent activities include volunteering for the Portage Minor Baseball League as a Spring Training Pitching Instructor and participating on the MacGregor Collegiate Institute Senior Varsity basketball, volleyball, and badminton teams. Jaxon plans to continue his education at Colby Community College to study Agribusiness/Agri Economics and play baseball for the Colby Trojans Baseball Team.

The Andrew Budge Memorial Scholarship is open to students entering the first year of a full-time post-secondary program at an accredited university or college. Andrew Budge was a talented Manitoba athlete from Winnipeg South who passed away suddenly in 2010 at the age of 24. Hockey, curling, golf, and of course, baseball were among his interests, and it was his passion and love for sport that inspired the creation of this scholarship. All of us at Baseball Manitoba want to thank Andrew’s mother, Wendy Budge, for coming to the event and presenting this scholarship.

Congratulations to all winners from all of us at Baseball Manitoba! Learn more about our scholarship here.

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