Watkins, Poulino take home major hardware at Saints Athletics banquet
By Brett Hedges
Saints rookie men’s baseball catcher, Jeff Watkins, and graduating men’s soccer forward, Gabriel Poulino, took home major awards at the 47th St. Clair College athletic awards banquet on Wed., Apr. 9th at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts in downtown Windsor.
Watkins, an Amherstburg native, led the men’s baseball team in most hitting categories in 2013 and took home the Male Athlete of the Year award.
“My heart was pounding the whole time… I couldn’t believe it,” said Watkins, whose team won the first ever Ontario Colleges Athletic Association men’s baseball championship in 2013. ”I couldn’t be happier that I got this award.”
Poulino led the men’s soccer team to back-to-back OCAA semi-final appearances and received the Inter-Collegiate Athlete of the Year award as a graduating senior.
Poulino led his team and the OCAA in goals scored over his two seasons and was named MVP of the men’s indoor soccer team as well. He said celebrating the award with his teammates was an honour.
“My teammates had my back and to receive these awards means a lot to me, especially in my last year,” said Poulino, who plans to travel to the U.K. on his pursuit of a professional soccer contract. “My time here was awesome. I just came here trying to be the best that I could… but coming out as top goal scorer in the league was amazing.”
More than 300 members of the Saints athletics family joined in the evening of fine dining, memorable speeches and trophy presentations for student-athletes involved in varsity and intramural sports and acknowledged individuals on their athletic and academic achievements during the 2013-2014 year.
J.P. Jabbour , St. Clair College Student Athletic Association President, said the annual event is the time for everyone to relax and look back at the success of the S.A.A.
“It’s a big Saints party to recognize everyone here,” said Jabbour, who has been on the S.A.A. board for three years. “Nothing good comes easy. The varsity teams have grown and that didn’t happen overnight… to achieve great things, you have to work hard at it every single day.”
As a graduating student himself, Jabbour reflected on his time on the Saints athletics board.
“It’s really something that I won’t forget,” said Jabbour about being S.A.A. President. “It’s truly been a lot of history in the making for St. Clair College… the($1,250 per athlete per semester) scholarship program being offered, the new SportsPlex being built. It’s really exciting. I wish the best of luck for future boards.”
The most talked about statistic during the banquet was not the amount of provincial medals and championships, but rather the amount of all-academic awards given to Saints athletes by the OCAA. In 2013-2014, St. Clair had a school-record 41 athletes receive the award for a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Athletic coordinator, Jaw Shewfelt, summed it up best when he talked about the record.
“It’s amazing what happens when you offer $1,250 scholarships,” he said with a laugh.
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