Ottawa Sports Awards to give two Major Awards to Gee-Gees

The Garnet and Grey will celebrate the achievements of women's rugby head coach Jen Boyd and the women's soccer team season at the 2019 Ottawa Sports Awards as both are set to receive major awards at the event. 

Jen Boyd has been named the Ottawa Sports Award winner as Female Coach of the Year for 2019. This is the sixth time in Boyd's coaching career, which began at Ashbury College, that she will take home this award – the most of any in the category. Boyd is being recognized for the Gee-Gees season which included a sixth straight RSEQ championship and national bronze medal, as well as her ongoing involvement with Rugby Canada and development of the game at the local level.

The Gee-Gees women's soccer team captured the City's attention this year with its victory at the inaugural FISU World Cup. The perennially strong Garnet and Grey squad was ranked no. 1 in U SPORTS throughout the 2019 regular season. The team amassed an undefeated regular season record at 14-0-2, outscoring opponents 40-4 in the process. The team's only loss of the year came in the OUA conference semifinal, in overtime. Following a bronze-medal win the season would typically have ended there. However, as 2018 U SPORTS National Champions, the team had been invited to compete at the inaugural FISU World Cup of Soccer at the end of November. The team extended its season by nearly a month, and student-athletes travelled to China to take on squads from Siberia, Taiwan, China, and Brazil, defeating all comers to be crowned FISU World Cup Champions. The team also won the tournament's Fair Play award.

"I am very proud of all of our Gee-Gees teams and what they have accomplished in 2019," said Danika Smith, High Performance Advisor at uOttawa. "The women's rugby and women's soccer teams have been two standout programs over the last several years and it is great to see them recognized among the best of the Ottawa sport community. This is a very special event and we are happy to be part of it again this year." 

The Ottawa Sports Awards is the largest and most inclusive amateur sport recognition event in Canada and will mark its 67th anniversary this year. The winners will be celebrated at the 2019 Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner, January 29, 2020 at Algonquin College on Woodroffe Avenue.

In addition to the major awards, several uOttawa teams, alumni, and student-athletes will be recognized for their standout performances in 2019. The list, which includes student-athletes on varsity teams, competitive sport club teams, and uOttawa students in other sports, will be made public closer to the awards date.