(February 8, 2007)

Nam Nguyen	Roxanne Rheault
Liam Firus	Louis-Phillipe Sirois
Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill

The 2007 BMO Possibility Awards

BMO Possibility Awards are given annually at the conclusion of the BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships and for the fourth year at the BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Junior Nationals.

Each award consists of a $500 BMO Financial Group cash training grant and a glass sculpture.

The BMO Possibility Awards take into account some of the following criteria as evidence during individual performances in any part of the 2007 BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Junior Nationals:

• overcoming difficult obstacles;
• implementing fresh and new ideas;
• performing over and above all expectations.

The awards were presented by Jim O’Brien, Area Manager, BMO Financial Group.

This year’s recipients were:

• 8-year-old Nam Nguyen from BC/YT is the youngest athlete ever to win this award, and the youngest to capture a Juvenile men’s national championship in Canada. Nam performed a wonderful program and is very deserving of a BMO Possibility Award and we look forward to seeing him in the future.

• 11-year-old Roxanne Rheault from Quebec who competed in the Juvenile women’s event. After 2 and a-half minutes, an amazing performance was in the books, establishing a new Canadian record by scoring 43,23 points, and becoming the new Canadian Juvenile women’s champion.

• Liam Firus from BC/YT surpassed the previous Canadian record in the Pre-Novice men’s category. In an event that was flooded with young talented skaters, this was a tremendous achievement!

• With an outstanding performance in the Novice men’s free skate, Louis-Phillipe Sirois from Quebec finished at the top of the podium while setting a new Canadian record.

• Kharis Ralph and Asher Hill from the Central Ontario Section offered a mesmerizing free dance performance, demonstrating creative and seamless choreography, and were crowned the 2007 Novice Dance Champions.

Congratulations to all the 2007 BMO Possibility Awards recipients at this year’s Junior Nationals.

The 2007 Underhill/Martini Scholarship Award

The Underhill/Martini Scholarship Award is presented each year at the BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Junior Nationals to a skater or skaters, showing great potential, while at the same time overcoming adversity along the way.

Tamiko Uyeda and Martin Nickel

This award is made possible through the generosity of world pair champions Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini. The award consists of a $1500 cheque and a beautiful portrait entitled “Another Dream Begins”, and is traditionally presented on behalf of Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini by their former coach and Skate Canada’s Director of Athlete Development Louis Stong.

Along the road of an athletes life one will undoubtedly face adversity in many forums. Whether it be mental, physical or personal one must overcome this burden in order to succeed.

At this year’s BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Junior Nationals, there was a special case in which a pair of our athletes demonstrated remarkable courage and overcame a great deal in order to be competing in Brampton.

In a year filled with injury and set-backs, Tamiko Uyeda and Martin Nickel from Manitoba were set to compete for Canada when they suffered a concussion caused by a fall. They battled back showing great strength and character. Though time did not able them to represent our country, the courage that was shown during the difficult times was enough to grant them with this award.