On Wednesday, February 12, UBC Okanagan Heat won the Tourism Kelowna Sport Hosting Excellence Award at the 24th Annual Community Sport Hero Awards, presented by PacificSport Okanagan and the City of Kelowna. These awards recognize local sport leaders and athletes for their outstanding contributions to sport within our community demonstrating, innovation, leadership, and excellence within their sport. Along with the recognition of local heroes, the 2025 Community Sport Hero Awards Reception took some time to recognize the Okanagan athletes who represented the region at the 2024 Summer Paralympics and Olympics in Paris: Jerome Blake, Malindi Elmore, Fynn McCarthy, and Rob Shaw.
I was proud to present the Sport Hosting Excellence Award, on behalf of Tourism Kelowna, alongside City Councillor Maxine DeHart, to the UBCO Heat Team in recognition of the outstanding effort they demonstrated in hosting the USPORTS Cross Country National Championship and helping raise Kelowna's profile as a sport destination.
Left to Right: Tourism Kelowna's Sara Correa, UBCO Heat Team Malindi Elmore, Tom Huisman, Cassy Melnike, Mike Van Tighem, Jamie Howieson, and City Councillor Maxine DeHart.
UBC Okanagan Heat bid and hosted the USPORTS Cross Country Championships in November of 2024 at Mission Recreation Fields. The event, which took place on November 9, welcomed the top collegiate runners in the country, with over 300 runners from 31 universities participating in the event. This is just the second time in UBC Okanagan history that the Athletics and Recreation department has hosted a university-level championship—in 2016 UBCO hosted the Canadian Interuniversity Sport/Curling Canada Championships.
In addition to hosting a world-class event, the UBCO Heat women’s team showed their capabilities by claiming the individual gold medal with a newly crowned national champion in Lauren McNeil, as well as national rookie of the year honors for Sophie Hamilton, both of whom helped the UBCO women finish 6th overall in the nation.
Photo Credit: Krista Carlson
Congratulations to all the 2025 Award Winners in both the Sport Leader and Athlete categories:
Sport Leaders Awards:
- Karen Hatch – Okanagan Athletics Club
- Tamlyn Böhm – Kelowna Paddle Centre
- Warren Brock – Kelowna Minor Heat Fastball
- Cindy Rhodes – Interior Running Association
- Travis Miller – Okanagan Sun
- Terry Welsh - Kelowna Bocce Club
- Martin Weilmeier – Kelowna Badminton Club
Athletes Awards:
- Megan Rempel -Curling
- Jacob Bond - Football
- Abigail Taneda - Soccer
- Mackenzie Adams - Skeleton
- William McCreight - Wheelchair Rugby
- Elizabeth Henne - Basketball
- Brendan Christian – Rugby
Sporting events of this nature increase Kelowna's profile as a premier sporting destination and have a significant economic impact on our community. By recognizing individuals and clubs in their efforts to attract, bid, and secure events, Tourism Kelowna can further encourage others to think big and work with us to help enhance Kelowna’s sporting portfolio.
If you have any questions about how Tourism Kelowna can support sporting events or our Major Event Strategy, please reach out to me at sara@tourismkelowna.com.
