Usually, the Athletic Banquet is a night to celebrate individual and team accomplishments in front of peers. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the George Brown College Department of Athletics and Recreation had to find an alternative way to highlight this special occasion. Thanks to the power of social media, the Huskies were able to showcase the highlights of the 2019-2020 season interactively online. Recognizing excellence in sport despite these unusual circumstances was a must for Melanie Gerin-Lajoie, Manager of Athletics and Recreation.
“It was very important for our George Brown program to still be able to recognize the accomplishments of our varsity athletes this year. Even though our Athletic Banquet itself had to be cancelled and we couldn’t have a physical gathering, we wanted to make sure that we were acknowledging and celebrating our athletes’ efforts on and off the field in a public forum,” Gerin-Lajoie explained. “They committed a lot of time and effort to our Huskies program, in the classroom, on the court, on the field and we wanted to make sure they could still share in that moment.”
This past season saw the Huskies make waves in numerous sports. Huyen Le brought home George Brown’s first Badminton CCAA national banner after winning the gold medal in Women’s Singles and completing a perfect 35-0 campaign. Men’s Basketball captured their first OCAA provincial banner in 44 years, while Women’s Volleyball broke numerous program records, one of which was hosting their first crossover match since the program was inaugurated in 2006.
Even an OCAA record was broken thanks to Men’s Baseball student-athlete David DeCassan. The starting pitcher put himself in the record books for Most Innings Pitched in a season with 44. Additionally, having over 15 Huskies earning OCAA awards this past season illustrates how much depth and talent the entire Huskies varsity program contains.
It was no surprise however when Le captured both the Female Rookie of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year awards after her national championship win, and 5th year veteran and OCAA Championship MVP Kingslee D’Silva took home Male Athlete of the Year.
“The great achievements our Huskies saw this year give a glimpse not only to where those programs are headed for the future, but also speak to where we’ve come from to get to these moments we’re celebrating right now. Our administrators, coaching staffs and athletes have done an incredible job over the last few years of turning the corner and really putting our programs back on the map,” said Gerin-Lajoie. “From a national banner for the first time in our badminton program’s history to a third time berth for our Men’s Basketball team at the National Championship, those are things we’re really proud of and that we’ve worked extremely hard to achieve. After a great 2019-20, it can only bode well for what 2020-21 will have in store.”
Overall, it was a standout season for the George Brown Huskies. To take in some of those highlights and meet the award winners, check out our Virtual Athletics Banquet thread on Twitter @GBC_huskies or Instagram @gbchuskies, or view the full Awards page.
