2024 Baseball Manitoba Awards Banquet Recap
This past Saturday we were proud to present our 2024 Awards Banquet in Brandon, MB. We honoured our best coaches, officials, players, teams, volunteers, and honorary members for their performances and/or contributions to the sport of baseball. The event was a great success, and we thank all those who came, enjoyed the evening, and celebrated another fantastic year of baseball with us. See more from our guest speaker and the 2024 Award Winners below.
Master of Ceremonies: Clayton Dreger, Sport Director Golden West Radio
Welcome, Councillor Bruce Luebke
Presidential Greetings: Tony Siemens, Baseball Manitoba Past President
Guest Speaker: The Honourable Glen Simard, Minister of Sport, Heritage, Culture and Tourism
Our guest speaker, Glen Simard, is a small-town guy from St. Lazare who has spent his adult years in Brandon. Upon graduating from Brandon University, he worked as a schoolteacher in the Brandon School Division for more than 25 years. Being involved in sport for most of his life, when he enrolled his children in sport, it was a natural fit to become involved as a volunteer coach and administrator. Glen was a driving force in Brandon Minor Baseball. He worked diligently to create new opportunities for Brandon baseball players and has helped grow the program and Simplot Millenium Park to what they are today.
Brandon Minor Baseball’s loss was the Province of Manitoba’s gain in 2023 as Glen joined the political world as Brandon East’s representative for the NDP. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the General Election and was quickly named the Minister of Sport, Heritage, Culture and Tourism by the Premier, Wab Kinew.
2024 Award Winners
Grassroots Coach of the Year - Derek Helgason of Elmwood
Photo from left to right: Derek Helgason, James Zamko, Baseball Manitoba Program Director
High Performance Coach of the Year - Cody Benson of La Salle
Photo from left to right: Cody Benson, James Zamko, Baseball Manitoba Program Director
Grassroots Team of the Year - 15U AA St. James A’s (Female)
High Performance Team of the Year - Minor - 18U AAA Elmwood Giants
High Performance Team of the Year - Major - Senior West Winnipeg A’s
Honour Society - Dale McKinnon of Deloraine
Photo left to right: Roger Langlais, Baseball Manitoba President, Dale McKinnon
Volunteer of the Year - Dan Cox of Winnipeg
Photo left to right: Roger Langlais, Baseball Manitoba President, Dan Cox
Derrick Dubell Grassroots Umpire of the Year - Michael Carlberg
Photo left to right: Michael Carlberg, Hailey, Derrick Dubell's daughter
Ron Shewchuk High-Performance Umpire of the Year - Ezekiel Fehr
Photo left to right: Ezekiel Fehr, Ron Shewchuk
Larry Nicholls Umpire Award of Merit - Miles Parr
Photo left to right: Ashton Liskie, Baseball Manitoba VP of Umpires, Miles Parr
Honour Society - Tom Yandeau
Photo left to right: Roger Langlais, Baseball Manitoba President, Nicole Madsen, accepting the award on behalf of Tom, who was unable to attend the event.
Honour Society - Nicole Madsen
Photo left to right: Roger Langlais, Baseball Manitoba President, Nicole Madsen
Challenger Player of the Year - Hayden Cecchini
Photo left to right: Hayden Cecchini, Kevin Froese, Baseball Manitoba VP of Finance
13U Player of the Year - Donovan Dionne
Photo left to right: Donovan Dionne, Kevin Froese, Baseball Manitoba VP of Finance
15U Player of the Year - Seth Hooper
Photo left to right: Seth Hooper, Kevin Froese, Baseball Manitoba VP of Finance
18U Player of the Year - Lucas Lyons
Photo left to right: Lucas Lyons, Kevin Froese, Baseball Manitoba VP of Finance
14U Female Player of the Year - Josie Miller
Photo left to right: Kevin Booker, Baseball Manitoba VP of High Performance, Josie Miller
16U Female Player of the Year - Ally Neufeld
Photo left to right: Kevin Booker, Baseball Manitoba VP of High Performance, Ally Neufeld
Senior Women’s Player of the Year - Jewell Thompson
Photo left to right: Kevin Booker, Baseball Manitoba VP of High Performance, Jewell Thompson
22U (Junior) Player of the Year - Easton Grieve
Photo left to right: Kevin Booker, Baseball Manitoba VP of High Performance, Easton Grieve
Senior Men's Player of the Year - Logan Warkentin
Photo left to right: Kevin Booker, Baseball Manitoba VP of High Performance, Heather and Jeff Warkentin, Logan's parents, accepting the award on behalf of Logan, who was unable to attend the event
Honour Society - Pete Perreault
Photo left to right: Kevin Booker, Baseball Manitoba VP of High Performance, Pete Perreault
Region of the Year - Red River Valley
Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us at this event, and thank you to our guest speaker, the Honourable Glen Simard, for joining us. Congratulations again to all our 2024 Award Winners, and here's to another great year of baseball in Manitoba!
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