Longtime Okanagan curler Jim Cotter has been named Curl B.C.’s Male Athlete of the Year for the 2013-14 season.
Cotter, who curls out of the Vernon Curling Club, enjoyed plenty of success on the ice last season after he and Kelowna’s Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky teamed up with Calgary’s John Morris.
With Cotter throwing fourth rocks and Morris calling the games, the Vernon/Kelowna foursome won the B.C. men’s curling title in 2014, then earned a silver medal at the Brier in Kamloops after losing to Kevin Koe in the final.
Cotter, who also won the award in 2009, was humbled by the honour and believes his any one of his teammates would have been an equally worthy recipient.
“In all honesty, this is a team award,” said Cotter, 39. “What we did as a rink wouldn’t have been possible without John, Tyrel and Rick. Any one of those guys is deserving of this award. We win as a team, we lose as a team.”
The Cotter team also reached the final of Canadian Olympic curling trials in December 2013 but, like the Brier, settled for runner-up status.
Cotter will return in 2014-15 as the Vernon/Kelowna team’s skip, with a new member at third in Ryan Kuhn. Griffith and Sawatsky will remain on as the team’s front end.
The Curl B.C. awards ceremony will be held June 14 in Coquitlam.
Among the other award winners are: Sonja Gaudet, Female Athlete of the Year; Coquitlam Club, Curling Centre of the Year; and Victoria’s Kesa Van Osch, Team of the Year.
