Parry Award Winners Not Done With Contributions To Sport
CKSS’ Jake Lindley with his 2014 Dr. Jack Parry Award trophy – Photo by Ian Kennedy/ CKSN.ca
Chatham-Kent Secondary School’s Jake Lindley will be attending the University of Windsor in the fall, where he will study Human Kinetics. Lindley will also vie to earn a spot on the Men’s Varsity Basketball Team.
Lindley ensures that he would love to be involved in the sports community of Chatham-Kent once he has the opportunity to.
“I have been involved in sports since a very young age and have had a lot of great coaches from that time. I would just like to give the same experience those great coaches gave me to the kids in the Chatham-Kent community.”
Lindley also believes that being active in sports since a young age have taught him numerous values that will help him excel at University.
“Sports have taught me a lot of things that not many other things in life can teach. It has always been easy for me to make friends because of team spirit and always believing in one another.”
“It taught me that working hard always pays off,” continued Lindley. “Not just with sports but in the classroom as well. If I work hard on my studies, I will be rewarded in some shape or form, whether it be attaining a good mark in a class or having the satisfaction of putting 100 percent of my efforts into an assignment.”
For Lindley, the aspect of a team is what will be the most longed for once he is done and finished with his career.
“A bunch of individuals coming from different backgrounds and working as one unit. It’s like a machine,” says Lindley of being part of a team. “A machine needs multiple parts in order to function properly and if one part decides not to work, the whole machine breaks down. It is just like a team having multiple individuals trying to find a way to work as one unit. That’s what I will miss most, working as a group and the relationships that were built in the process.”
UCC’s Michelle Truong with her 2014 Dr. Jack Parry Award trophy – Photo by Ian Kennedy/ CKSN.ca
Truong would also love to have the opportunity to be active in the sports community of Chatham-Kent.
“I can definitely see myself coaching or volunteering in some sort. Even if it’s not the teaching aspect but just planning and helping organize events.”
Sports have taught Truong numerous values, and she looks to integrate these values into her studies at Waterloo.
“I definitely do view my challenges in a different way from being involved in sports,” says Truong. “Sports have actually taught me a lot about goal setting. Now it’s just subconscious for me to make little goals for myself each day whether it is for school, athletics, or just life in general.”
“Sports have taught me to view everything in a positive way,” she continued. “I’m a competitive person so positivity really changes the perspective of my game.”
Truong also believes being active in sports will significantly help her adjust to the University lifestyle.
“Sports and volunteering has really made an impact on my social skills for sure as well. I play a lot of team sports so I made a lot of lifelong friends from that.”
For Truong, the time spent with her teammates through the vicissitudes of sports is the aspect that she will miss the most about sports. Truong however, believes that once all is done, she will still be close to her teammates.
“I think the thing I’ll miss most about sports and being a part of a team is the bond you make with your teammates,” says the mutli-sport athlete. “I mean, just think, at one try out everyone would be nervous and weary of each other, then when the team is made, a relationship starts to grow. With your teammates, the coach, the parents. It’s like a huge family. Being on the court, winning, losing, battling with each other through it all, it becomes a really close knit and I will definitely miss that aspect of sports. But then again I’ll never really miss the team because they’ll still be with me when all is said and done. That’s what so great about being in sports.”
The 2014 Dr. Jack Perry Award was handed out last Thursday on June 12, at the Ursuline College Chatham’s auditorium.
well written article!