Jan. 06, 2026
The 2025 Ottawa Sports Awards will mark the 73rd annual event to celebrate the finest in Ottawa’s amateur sports community. Part of the event’s evolution is the development of awards which highlight the personal stories beyond the athletic results.
The Spirit of Sport Award, Special Recognition Award, and the Ottawa Sport Endowment recipients for 2025 are profiled below. Ottawa Sports Awards is proud to recognize their inspirational impact within the sport community during the past year.
These award recipients will be celebrated at the 2025 Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner, which will be held on February 4, 2026 at the Infinity Convention Centre. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
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Emily believes in making equestrian accessible to all due to the immense benefits that horses can provide in people’s lives. A former competitive equestrian athlete, she has coached riders from grassroots levels through to their first national competitions in the disciplines of eventing, show jumping and dressage. In 2007 she opened the Royale Equestrian Centre in Barrhaven, and recently expanded to open Royale Ranch in Blossom Park, bringing the site of a previous riding centre back to life.
Bertrand has focussed on developing programs for youth that not only teach about the sport but use the sport as a tool to teach teamwork, responsibility, work ethic, social skills, and build confidence. She has also started a therapeutic riding program.
Always available to support her students, fellow riders and coaches, she is a role model for hundreds of young riders. Her community involvement, exceptional coaching skills, and efforts to make the sport accessible for all make her a key part of the community.
Allan Ryan saw an issue and went about finding solutions. The outcome of his volunteer work is the Stittsville Sports Hall of Fame, housed at the CardelRec Recreation Complex. Ryan spearheaded its first induction ceremony, which took place in November of 2024, and links to the storied sports heroes of the community pre-amalgamation, via the former Goulbourn Sports Wall of Fame.
Nineteen local inductees had been celebrated in the early 1990s, but had been left behind by amalgamation. Ryan recognized the importance of their stories, and revived their status by upgrading and modernizing the plaques, finding an appropriate new facility, and revitalizing the branding and selection process.
Emma Shimizu has made immense contributions to our community through her volunteer work and coaching, and by promoting accessibility in sports. Her commitment shone through the strongest while she stayed committed to coaching her East Ottawa Stars U13 AA girls hockey team through months of cancer treatment.
Emma was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma following her rookie season with the Nipissing University Lakers ringette team in 2022 when she was just nineteen years old. Her coaching during treatment was marked by creating an environment where each girl feels valued and supported on her team.
Now an Algonquin College graduate and High Performance Coordinator with Wheelchair Basketball Canada, Emma remains a coach with the East Ottawa Stars and has had other impactful roles as an intern with Abilities Ottawa, a City of Ottawa inclusive recreation instructor, and a volunteer with Special Olympics Ontario in Ottawa, the Capital City Condors, Campfire Circle and the Canadian Cancer Society.
The Spirit of Sport Award celebrates those who have set a meaningful example for others through their personal journey in sport.
Since 2010, the Ottawa Sports Endowment has awarded $500 annually to help local sports organizations increase access to sport. This year, the amount has been increased to $750 thanks to donations from attendees of the 2024 Awards Dinner.
The BGC Ottawa Thunderbolts program provides youths with life-changing opportunities in sport, education and leadership at no cost. This includes quality equipment, high performance training, transportation and tournaments – the complete competitive sport experience.
The program also ensures each player is seen as a student and individual first and basketball player second, and creates opportunities for youth to become successful student-athletes and young leaders. This year the club achieved a milestone on the court, becoming back-to-back champions of the U19 boys North Pole Hoops Showcase League for 2024-2025 and spring-summer 2025. It is the icing on the cake for an important community touchstone with a wide programming offering.
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All major award winners, including Lifetime Awards, Mayor’s Cup, Coach of the Year, and Team of the Year, have now been publicly announced. The final award announcements for 2025 will include the individual sport award winners in over 65 sports and over 60 championship-winning teams from local clubs.
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The Ottawa Sports Awards honours the finest in the Ottawa amateur sports community. Click here to view our past winners!