Youth Sports Alliance awards local athletes for leadership, values, then performance

Youth Sports Alliance gave out awards to local elite athletes at their Circle of Excellence Ceremony with M.C.'s Ryan Walsh and Carl Roepke on stage. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — On Sunday, at Park City Mountain’s Canyons Village, the Youth Sports Alliance (YSA) held its annual awards ceremony, Circle of Excellence.

From the stage, YSA executive director Emily Fisher told the crowd of families,” Tonight is a great opportunity to look around at all these fantastic families and realize that the student who you haven’t seen in class for days after days, perhaps they’re now on a national team, or they’re in another country at a World Championships.” 

YSA is comprised of seven competitive Teams: Wasatch Luge, Park City Speed Skating Club, Utah Olympic Park Bobsled and Skeleton Club, Park City Ski & Snowboard, The Figure Skating Club of Park City, Wasatch Freestyle, and the Park City Ice Miners.

The Leadership Award recognizes the individual(s) who significantly impacted their teammates. Athletes nominated by their teams to receive this award include Stephen Boone, Evelyn Harris, Harry Hoffman, Tory Hoffman, and Awstyn Knight, who was then announced as the winner.

Ian Carmack was announced as the Sam Jackenthal Showstopper Award winner, presented in concert with the Live Like Sam Foundation. The award recognizes exceptional moments during the previous year that left a lasting memory. Carmack had performed admirably at the Cross Country Skiing National Championships. The others nominated in this category included Logan Cadman, Sebastian Fassl, Jack Petrone, and Kate Pressgrove, who recently represented YSA in Paris for the final presentation and subsequent bid award of the 2034 Olympics/Paralympics to Utah.

The Breakthrough Performance Award recognizes an individual or a team that pushed personal limits to achieve an over-the-top season or event. Athletes nominated by their teams to receive this award include Izzy Crandall, Dominick Ferreira, Mikey O’Grady, Augie Roepke, Sosie Sheffert, and Phoebe Zaniello. The award went to Zoe Dwinell.

YSA recognizes achievement on snow and ice by presenting the All-Star and Champion awards each year to athletes who represent their teams’ top 5% in athletic accomplishments.

The Champion Award recognizes athletes who attain significant results at national or international competitions. Champion Award winners earned a top-five national ranking in their sport, representing their country in international competition, or attaining top results at a national or international level competition.

The All-Star Award recognizes athletes who attain significant results in regional competitions.

Park City native, 2022 Olympian in the Sport of Nordic Combined Jared Schumate was honored as the YSA Hall of Fame Inductee. Shumate began his ski journey at the age of two at Deer Valley and discovered ski jumping as an elementary school student through YSA and then the sport of Nordic Combined when training with Park City Ski & Snowboard. He represented the United States at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, along with fellow Olympians Ashley Farquharson (luge) and Casey Dawson (speed skating), who also started through YSA.

Shumate recently retired from the sport of Nordic Combined. Beyond his athletic achievements, Jared advocated for environmental sustainability, serving as an athlete ambassador for Protect Our Winters to promote awareness and action on climate change.

Jared graduated from The Winter Sports School in 2015 and later attended the University of Utah, where he studied Geography, Environmental Science, and Sociology.

Tom Kelly was presented with the Spirit of Service Award. He’s volunteered with YSA for big and smaller events and behind-the-scenes making key connections. His PR Company, Tom Kelly Communications, serves local and global sports entities. Kelly is the chairman communications director for the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, chairman of the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation, and chairman of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Perhaps he is best known for his 32-year tenure at U.S. Ski & Snowboard as the spokesperson for elite skiing and snowboarding in America.

ACTIVE8 Core Values award nominees were middle schoolers and junior high students throughout Summit, South Summit, North Summit, and Wasatch Counties Lochlan Frick, Brody Lobdell, Timothy Sorensen, and Anthony Vega.

GET OUT AND PLAY is the YSA program that introduces sports to elementary school children and families. It partners with the nonprofit Youth United to ensure every demographic has an equal playing field. This year’s GOAP Core Values award nominees were Rhynna Booth Allen, Ronald Caleb Hernández Aponte, Brielle Higgins, Caleb Montejano, Caleb Morales, Cameron Morales, Dante Ortiz, Liam Reeves, and Lily Mae Stephenson. 

Each and every one of these athletes will gladly sell anyone they know an Opportunity Drawing Ticket or two for the upcoming JANS Winter Welcome Gala fundraiser at the Stein Erickson Lodge. This year’s prize is a week’s vacation to Belize.