(February 6, 2008)
As the 2008 BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals came to a close with the Novice Pair event at the Nepean Sportsplex in Ottawa, on Saturday February 2, athletes listened excitedly to discover who would be receiving this year’s BMO Possibility Awards and the Underhill/Martini Scholarship Award.
The BMO Possibility Awards have been presented annually since 2004 and include a $500 BMO Financial Group training grant and a glass sculpture. This year’s awards were presented by Rick Campagna, Personal Banking Area Manager – Ottawa East – Ottawa Seaway District, Bank of Montreal.
The Awards take into account some of the following criteria during individual performances in any part of the 2008 BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals:
- personal best performance
- performance given above adversity
- performance that stuck in the minds of the spectators
- performance that displayed new and creative skating talent and set new standards or sought a new horizon
Edbert Khong
This young man already held the Canadian record for Juvenile Men when he arrived in Ottawa for the 2008 BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals. With his wonderful free skating program he broke his own record with 39.78 points. For this achievement, the 2008 Juvenile Men’s Champion of Canada, Edbert Khong, from Central Ontario, received a BMO Possibility Award.
Katie Desveaux and Dmitre Razgulajevs
It is difficult for a Juvenile Dance team to get a standing ovation, but that’s exactly what happened when these young skaters finished their free dance. For this remarkable achievement Katie Desveaux and Dmitre Razgulajevs from Central Ontario received a BMO Possibility Award.
Nam Nguyen
This young man never ceases to amaze us. He was last year’s Juvenile Champion and he has claimed the 2008 Pre-Novice title. All this and he is only 9 years old. The possibilities are endless for Nam Nguyen from BC/YT who received a BMO Possibility Award.
Véronique de Beaumont-Boisvert and Sébastien Buron
They were fast, they were exciting and they were good. Their electrifying performance in the Novice Free Dance event brought the audience to their feet. For this Véronique de Beaumont-Boisvert and Sébastien Buron from Quebec received a BMO Possibility Award.
Underhill/Martini Scholarship Award
The Underhill Martini Scholarship Award is presented each year at the BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals to a skater or skaters showing great potential and overcoming an adversity on the path to success. Together with a cheque for 1500$ the winners receive a portrait entitled “Another Dream Begins”.
There was a special case this year in which one of the athletes overcame a great deal in order to be at the 2008 BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals. Last Summer Lauren Sears from Nova Scotia was searching for a new partner. She recruited Cody Bradley from a triple A hockey league. Cody had never figure skated and bravely took his Preliminary Dance tests in his hockey skates. The couple “clicked”, a partnership began and they ended up competing in the Juvenile Dance category.
It’s a remarkable story of courage and determination. For this they were the recipients of the Martini/Underhill Scholarship Award presented to them by their former coach and now Skate Canada’s Skating Development Advisor Louis Stong.
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From left to right: Louis Stong presents Underhill Martini Scholarship Award to Lauren Sears and Cody Bradley
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BMO Possibility Award Winners : from left to right - Véronique de Beaumont-Boisvert and Sébastien Buron, Skate Canada – BC/Yukon Chairman Gail Weber representing Nam Nguyen, Katie Desveaux and Dmitre Razgulajevs and Edbert Khong
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