Prince George, B.C. – The young Prince George woman who has been given a scholarship at Grande Prairie College so she will play on their basketball team, has taken home lots of hardware from Kelly Road Secondary School.

 

Chelsey Thorne (in photo at right with  the awards) says she had worked very hard this year to be a serious contender for the Senior Female Athlete of The Year award. “I really wanted to see if I could make it, to see my name on the plaque next to Laura Dunsden and Kate Borden , they were so awesome!” says Thorne.

 

Well, when Kelly Road had its awards night this week, Chelsey Thorne’s name was in fact on that plaque, and on two others.

 

Her Coach talked about how Chelsey is a leader and a top offensive and defensive player. Chelsey lead the basketball team in scoring over the past year.  She was given the MVP award for the Senior Basketball team.

 

Then came the Senior Female Athlete of the Year Award, the one Chelsey says she worked so hard to achieve, sure enough, there was her name, one row below those of her heroes.

 

Chelsey was so engrossed in looking at that plaque, she missed the start of Principal McRae’s address about a young woman who embodies leadership on and off the basketball court, a young woman who gives back at Heather Park school coaching others. Chelsey says it was at that point, she thought, “is he talking about me?” The Principal then said it was an honour to have her as a student at Kelly Road and announced the recipient of the Mark Swift Memorial Trophy was Chelsey Thorne. “I was so overwhelmed, I just didn’t know what to do” says Chelsey.   The Mark Swift Memorial Trophy is awarded to the student who displays dedication and leadership to the athletic program, it is considered the highest award that can be given to anyone at that high school. 

 

Vice Principal, Ms. Jackson said to Chelsey, “I could see by the look on your face you had no clue this was going to be awarded to you and that just proves how much you deserve it.”

 

Chelsey says she’s still in a state of shock, and in a style that is so typical of this young woman, she switches the conversation from talking about her accomplishments to talking about the dedication of the school janitor. “His name is Darryl, and you know he has always been there for us (the basketball team) so we got a  basketball and had the team sign it for him just to say thanks you know, he was always there to make sure the doors were open,  he just made every practice complete.”

 

Chelsey will be heading to Grande Prairie this fall to study to be a nurse and to play on the Grande Prairie College basketball team. Chelsey’s heading to Grande Prairie with the same positive  winning attitude she  displayed at Kelly Road, “This has really been an awesome year, just awesome.”