“I anticipated before this season started a lot of our teams would have good years,” the Acadia athletic director said March 23. “In every one of our team sports, no one finished below third place in the conference. Our women’s rugby team won the AUS championship.”
No fewer than six Acadia teams were ranked in the national top-10 in their respective sports at one point or another during 2015-2016.
“We had 108 Academic all-Canadians last year: our most ever and the highest per capita total in the country.”
Soccer and basketball player Katie Ross was one of the top-eight Academic all-Canadians in Canada, and received a medal from the Governor-General in Ottawa.
Dickie pointed out that Ross was the third consecutive Acadia student to achieve the honour, following in the footsteps of soccer player Michelle Pryde and hockey player Travis Gibbons.
“The Governor-General’s medals were first presented three years ago. Acadia and McGill are the only two schools to have won all three years. That’s out of 56 schools across Canada.”
In related news, Atlantic University Sport announced March 23 that Ross was Acadia’s nominee for the James Bayer Memorial Scholarship for 2016.
The single award won most frequently by Acadia student-athletes over the past 15 years is the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award.
This is a reflection of Dickie’s insistence that all Acadia student-athletes be the best they can be in terms of academics, athletics and community service.
“We’re pretty fortunate here,” he said. “It’s not really a ‘have-to’ anymore. It’s become part of our culture here, and begins with the quality of student-athletes we recruit.”
Recently, the Huffington Post ranked Acadia Athletics fourth in the country in terms of “the whole package – academics, athletics, service in the community, facilities and fan support for our teams.”
In terms of fan support, Dickie says, “it just kept increasing, throughout the season, for all of our sports combined, and the best part of it is, it covers both genders.
"We have incredible support for our women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer and rugby teams," he added.
“We have a uniqueness here at Acadia right now, both in how both genders are being supported by the fans, and in how our student-athletes support each other," Dickie said.
The proposed new Stevens high performance centre, for which ground will be broken later this year, will greatly enhance the training opportunities for all Acadia athletes, and also provide badly needed new locker space for football and hockey.
“This past year, we hosted successful AUS championships in both men’s soccer and women’s volleyball. In November, we’ll be hosting the CIS women’s soccer.”
Dickie currently serves as president of Atlantic University Sport and is one of four athletic directors on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport board of directors.
In dealing with the rest of the country, he said, “I use the term ‘body of work’, as a combination of academics, athletics and community service. Combined with the community support we get in return, it makes this a very special athletic program.
“I don’t believe there is another one like it in the country, when it comes to the whole body of work.”
Did You Know?
Since 2002-2003, the following Acadia student-athletes have won AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Awards, some of them more than once.
Acadia Student-Athlete Community Service Awards – since 2002-2003
* won the corresponding CIS national award as well
2002-2003 Lori-Beth MacEwen, women’s volleyball *
2003-2004 Derek Smith, football
2003-2004 Lori-Beth MacEwen, women’s volleyball *
2004-2005 Derek Smith, football
2005-2006 Jordan Sheriko, men’s basketball *
2008-2009 Alex Traikov, men’s basketball
2009-2010 Greg Knight, football
2011-2012 Andrew Frazer, football
2011-2012 Cathleen Bleakney, women’s soccer *
2011-2012 Thomas Filgiano, men’s basketball
2012-2013 Alana Fairfax, women’s soccer *
2012-2013 Lindsay Harris, women’s basketball
2013-2014 Alana Fairfax, women’s soccer
2014-2015 Sean Stoqua, football
2014-2015 Caiomhe McParland, women’s soccer *
2014-2015 Elizabeth Skuriat, women’s swimming
2014-2015 Aprille Deus, women’s basketball
2015-2016 Sarah Ross, women’s volleyball *
2015-2016 Shaquille Smith, men’s basketball
“I anticipated before this season started a lot of our teams would have good years,” the Acadia athletic director said March 23. “In every one of our team sports, no one finished below third place in the conference. Our women’s rugby team won the AUS championship.”
No fewer than six Acadia teams were ranked in the national top-10 in their respective sports at one point or another during 2015-2016.
“We had 108 Academic all-Canadians last year: our most ever and the highest per capita total in the country.”
Soccer and basketball player Katie Ross was one of the top-eight Academic all-Canadians in Canada, and received a medal from the Governor-General in Ottawa.
Dickie pointed out that Ross was the third consecutive Acadia student to achieve the honour, following in the footsteps of soccer player Michelle Pryde and hockey player Travis Gibbons.
“The Governor-General’s medals were first presented three years ago. Acadia and McGill are the only two schools to have won all three years. That’s out of 56 schools across Canada.”
In related news, Atlantic University Sport announced March 23 that Ross was Acadia’s nominee for the James Bayer Memorial Scholarship for 2016.
The single award won most frequently by Acadia student-athletes over the past 15 years is the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award.
This is a reflection of Dickie’s insistence that all Acadia student-athletes be the best they can be in terms of academics, athletics and community service.
“We’re pretty fortunate here,” he said. “It’s not really a ‘have-to’ anymore. It’s become part of our culture here, and begins with the quality of student-athletes we recruit.”
Recently, the Huffington Post ranked Acadia Athletics fourth in the country in terms of “the whole package – academics, athletics, service in the community, facilities and fan support for our teams.”
In terms of fan support, Dickie says, “it just kept increasing, throughout the season, for all of our sports combined, and the best part of it is, it covers both genders.
"We have incredible support for our women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer and rugby teams," he added.
“We have a uniqueness here at Acadia right now, both in how both genders are being supported by the fans, and in how our student-athletes support each other," Dickie said.
The proposed new Stevens high performance centre, for which ground will be broken later this year, will greatly enhance the training opportunities for all Acadia athletes, and also provide badly needed new locker space for football and hockey.
“This past year, we hosted successful AUS championships in both men’s soccer and women’s volleyball. In November, we’ll be hosting the CIS women’s soccer.”
Dickie currently serves as president of Atlantic University Sport and is one of four athletic directors on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport board of directors.
In dealing with the rest of the country, he said, “I use the term ‘body of work’, as a combination of academics, athletics and community service. Combined with the community support we get in return, it makes this a very special athletic program.
“I don’t believe there is another one like it in the country, when it comes to the whole body of work.”
Did You Know?
Since 2002-2003, the following Acadia student-athletes have won AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Awards, some of them more than once.
Acadia Student-Athlete Community Service Awards – since 2002-2003
* won the corresponding CIS national award as well
2002-2003 Lori-Beth MacEwen, women’s volleyball *
2003-2004 Derek Smith, football
2003-2004 Lori-Beth MacEwen, women’s volleyball *
2004-2005 Derek Smith, football
2005-2006 Jordan Sheriko, men’s basketball *
2008-2009 Alex Traikov, men’s basketball
2009-2010 Greg Knight, football
2011-2012 Andrew Frazer, football
2011-2012 Cathleen Bleakney, women’s soccer *
2011-2012 Thomas Filgiano, men’s basketball
2012-2013 Alana Fairfax, women’s soccer *
2012-2013 Lindsay Harris, women’s basketball
2013-2014 Alana Fairfax, women’s soccer
2014-2015 Sean Stoqua, football
2014-2015 Caiomhe McParland, women’s soccer *
2014-2015 Elizabeth Skuriat, women’s swimming
2014-2015 Aprille Deus, women’s basketball
2015-2016 Sarah Ross, women’s volleyball *
2015-2016 Shaquille Smith, men’s basketball
