Chilliwack's Alexa McCarthy has been named the 2013 Canada West nominee for the CIS Sylvia Sweeney Award.
Named after the former Olympian and Canadian television producer, the award is given to a Canadian women's university basketball player who best exemplifies the values of athletics, academics and community involvement.
McCarthy, a star with the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, is active in several community service initiatives and takes on a key leadership role in UFV athletics as a whole. She has battled through an unfathomable number of injuries over the years to become a significant contributor to the team in 2012-13.
Through all of her adversity she has always lead the team in reaching out to the community.
McCarthy has initiated, organized and driven what has become a major UFV athletics community outreach initiative.
The ‘Walk and Knock food bank drive’ is an event where UFV athletes walk the community on Halloween evening collecting food for the Abbotsford Food Bank. In recent years, McCarthy has also participated in the Fraser Valley’s chapter of the ’Operation Red Nose’ program and has led UFV’s CIS 'Shoot for the Cure' event.
She is a three-time winner of the UFV athletics community service award.
“Alexa has been a major contributor to UFV, the athletics program and the Fraser Valley communities,” said UFV athletic director Rocky Olfert. “She has had a significant impact on the culture we are trying to create. Her efforts to continually put others before herself and model this as a student-athlete has been an inspiration to all of us.”
McCarthy becomes the second Cascade to earn the Canada West Sylvia Sweeney nomination. Michelle Buhler was selected in 2007-08 and was the recipient of the CIS community service award.