The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The best of the best n athletes from every imaginable sport I have been nominated for the 10th annual Athlete of the Year Award, which will be presented in Waterloo May 28. That's highly symbolic considering the creators of the award that honours the best athletes from Kitchener-Waterloo and the surrounding‘townships wondered about the depth and quality of the athletes that the area was producing when they first launched the awards program a decade ago. "We thought we would only get hockey players applying," said the chair of the selec- tion committee, John Thompson. "But we have been amazed at the quality of athletes that have been involved," Tenth annualAthlete of' the YearAward introduces the 10 nominees for 2007 Past winners include boxer Fitzroy Van- derpool, former world heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis, Olympic swimmer Laura Nicholls, Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Stevens. Olympic swimmer Jennifer Fratesi, former National Lacrosse league MVP Colin Doyle, Olympic skier Kelly VanderBeek, Olympic pole vaulter Dana Ellis, Olympic- medalling speed skater Amanda Overland and NCAA volleyball player of the year Sarah This year's crop of nominees is an eclectic mix of local athletes, all of whom have made their mark on the local, national or world stage. They include Luca Congi, a St. David Catholic secondary school grad, who won the Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughrid- ers last season leading the team in points with 156. which ranked him third in the league among place kickers The highlight of the season was when he accounted for 20 of his team's 26 points in the western semifinal, and also earned a western division all-star nomination. Mark Sommerfeld, a Bluevale grad, was the Horizon League Player of the Year last year while playing golf for the University of Detroit Mercy. He also won the us. Amateur Open Qualifier and was a member of Cana- da's National Amateur Golf Team. And Andrew Poje, another Bluevale grad, also had a breakout year with his new part- ner, Kaitlyn Weaver, in ice dancing The long- time member of the K-W Skating Club won BY Boa Wm Chronicle staff, The K-W Skating Club's Andrew Poje is one of 10 athletes nominated for the annual Athlete of the Year Award. The winner will be announced on May 28. three bronze medals last year, two in the ISC Ir. Grand Prix Circuit and another one in the World Junior Skating Championships. He and Weaver capped off their year by winning SPORTS ARTS” V IEVPOINT and more tmtgrNRNlitlat" in m WATERLOO CHRONICLE -yEvc 9mm LIFESTYLE 1509mm? bronze at the BMO Financial Canadian Senior Skating Championships, and they fol- lowed up that remarkable performance by winning silver at this year's championship. 50 Bridgeport rc, E.,Watcrloo, On N2] 2J6, 519-886 6226 YOUR THRIFT SHOP PURCHASEAT WORK An $8.00 coat can provide 1i',let, food 7 for one family for a month in Cd ombia. A $15.00 set of dishes andfvou have rovided the equivalent of 10 chickens or a famll‘ y in Croatia. A $20.00 dining room chair helps to construct , enough of a canal to -provide enough Water for one family. ELEBRATING 10 YEARS ammo another Mennonite Central Committee Thrift Shop wanton GENERATIONS where every purchase is a gift m the world WATERUX) cumulcu! “Valued“. mum-1| Poje was on hand for last week's nomina- tion announcement and said it was great to get the support from the community, not just this year but throughout his long skating career. "lt's just great to be recognized," said Poje. who is now training with former Canadian champion Shae-Lynn Bourne as he and Weaver prepare for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Poje said he was also impressed with the company he was keeping with other nomi- nees for this year's awards including Canadi- an National Women's Basketball Team cap- tain Chelsea Aubry. boxer Mandy Bujold, Newcastle United soccer player David Edgar, ultra-runner Laurie McGrath, world power- lifting champion Richard Singh, former award-winner VanderBeek and lacrosse star Ryan Benesch, who was up for the NLL's rookie of the year award after graduating from the k-W Braves. He also suits up for the Major Series Lacrosse’s K-W Kodiaks in the summer. -cciire; are some very big-named athletes," said Poje. Ht's truly an honour to be recog- nized amongst a1) thtse set" vim Pojeuthinks they atl share something in common: the passion to be the best in their respective spprts. _ "lt's all about the passion and ‘the drive," said Poje. "It's the commitment you've made to your aspirations. "You've set a goal in your mind and you want to accomplish that. You don't get up to the level that all of us are at without that motivation to push yourself." Ken Brooks. who was behind the original concept that was tied to the Big Brothers Sports Celebrity Dinner, said organizers had high hopes for the award when it was first launched and are glad to see it still going strong "It's been amazing" said Brooks. "I hope people were as amazed as I was about the diversity of athletes and all the talent that they bring on an international scale. -'iiiG%2 - N n we're doing this is for a lot of the athletes that don't get recognized and they are so Ipimsciativy frf.tt.te support." The 10th annual Athlete of the Year AwardswilibehetdatRIMParkMay28start- ing at6:30 am. Tickets are $30 and are avail- able bycalling 519-242-06tB.