UBC Thunderbirds rugby player Lyric Atchison was honoured as the 2019 winner of the prestigious Tom Longboat Award, recognized as the female Aboriginal athlete of the year from the Aboriginal Sports Circle at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Wednesday night at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The Tom Longboat Awards were established in 1951 to recognize Aboriginal athletes for their outstanding contributions to sport in Canada. The Awards provide a forum for acknowledging the growth and strength of the Aboriginal sport movement in Canada and its tremendous impact on sport development from community level participation to elite level competition.
Lyric Atchison is a First Nation athlete from the Squamish Nation. The third-year back row is a member of the Thunderbirds women's rugby team who recently claimed the programs first ever Canada West title thanks to a 21-12 win over the defending champion Calgary Dinos on Sunday, October 20. Hutchinson and the T-Birds will next take to the national stage as they get set to compete in the upcoming U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship hosted in Ottawa, ONT. October 31 through November 3 2019. The Kinesiology student and graduate of Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver also played on Team Canada's U20 Team at the 2019 Tri-Nations Cup.
"Lyric has true commitment to bettering herself and the others around her and sees sport as a vehicle to do so," said Darcy Patterson of BC Rugby. "Lyric's ambition to pursue higher level sport are also accompanied by her drive and dedication to excel academically."
"It is an honour for the Aboriginal Sport Circle to celebrate the achievements of both national winners Lyric Atchison and Cameron Gayleard (male Aboriginal athlete of the year) through the National Tom Longboard Award" reflected Carey Calder, CEO Aboriginal Sport Circle. "This is a remarkable example of Indigenous participation in sport and provides both athletes with a tremendous opportunity to reflect positive role modeling throughout Turtle Island."
