At the Annual Awards Evening held on Sunday September 18, 2011:

Good afternoon,

On behalf of Triathlon Manitoba, I welcome you to our annual Awards Luncheon.

I am proud and honoured to work with such a great organization.  From the Executive Director and the Board, to the Officials, Volunteers, Race Directors, Coaches, and athletes, Triathlon Manitoba has a lot to celebrate!

Our athletes at the Western Canada Summer Games made us very proud with their excellent showing, coming home with 4 medals.  Just a few weeks later, Sarah-Anne Brault, a past MNTC athlete, won 1st place in the Female Elite Under 23 category at the Canadian National Triathlon Championships.  And on September 11, Tyler Mislawchuk was the first Canadian to cross the finish line at the World Junior Triathlon Championships held in Beijing, China.  This demonstrates how successful our MNTC program has been, and continues to be.

The KOS committee was hard at work this year introducing a number of new initiatives, including a new event.  Thanks to the T3 Triathlon Club, the first annual Kids of Steel Splash & Dash took place in August.  The event was a huge success, and Triathlon Manitoba looks forward to working with T3 again next year.

The 2011 race season started off cold & wet, but finished sunny and hot with an excellent showing at the windup.  Though our participant numbers were slightly down from last year, we can all agree that we finished strong, and had a lot of fun!

Looking ahead to the coming year, Triathlon Manitoba has several opportunities to raise our profile further.

From October 28-30, for the first time, Winnipeg and Triathlon Manitoba will host the Triathlon Canada Annual General Meeting.  Representatives from Triathlon Canada and Provincial Associations will be able to observe and see what we have done right.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss best practices.  It is a great honour for us to host our triathlon friends from across Canada!

We now have a contact person in Thompson who is very interested in working with Triathlon Manitoba to develop the sport for adults and youth in Thompson.  Development in Northern Manitoba has been a challenge for us and we are thrilled by this progress. 

And in July 2012, the MB Summer Games will take place in Swan Valley.  Darren organized two clinics that trained coaches in a number of regions, which will result in our sport gaining exposure in rural Manitoba. 
 
In closing, the new Board was determined earlier today, and I would like to thank returning Board members.  Triathlon Manitoba is always looking for enthusiastic members to join the Board, and since we still have three Director positions open, I encourage you to consider this.  Please go to the website or talk to Darren or any Board member if interested.

Thank you to Darren Hemeryck who continues to be an exemplary Executive Director and is of great value to us.

Thank you also to Chris Kitchen, Cathy Cortvriendt, Anita Miller and Darren Hemeryck for organizing the luncheon this afternoon.

I thank my husband Ryan who has been very supportive throughout the year, and my sweet baby Natalie for her inspiration.  She started her swimming training this summer!

And lastly, I congratulate all award recipients and thank their family and friends for supporting them as they achieved their success.

I wish you a wonderful afternoon.

Thank you.

Angela Douklias