Amelia Rioux – Athlete of the Year

LISTUGUJ, QC – Amelia Rioux wins SSHS Athlete of the Year

Sports have always been a big part of Amelia Rioux’s life. She started her athletic career at the early age of three years old, beginning with soccer and dance. In grade three, she started swimming; and a year after that, she began playing basketball. When she entered high school, she added volleyball to the list of sports.

For Amelia, playing and committing to these five sports was all just for fun. It was a perfect way to keep busy and get rid of any stress.

“Playing sports is an escape from all the stress of life and everything,” said Amelia.

This year at the SSHS Sports Banquet, Amelia won ‘Most Improved’ for volleyball, ‘Best Defense’ for basketball, and the ‘Henderson Award’ for volunteering with the school. She also got her name on the gymnasium wall for winning the biggest award of the night, ‘Athlete of the Year’.

This isn’t Amelia’s first time getting her name on the wall. Her involvement in basketball during her middle school years at AGS scored her ‘Rookie of the Year’ in grade five, ‘MVP’ three years in a row afterward, and was able to get her name on the wall in grade seven for winning ‘Athlete of the Year’.

Though she accomplished so much throughout her journey, her high school experience was far from normal due to the pandemic.

“I only had like one normal year of high school, which was grade nine,” she said. “I lost out on half of it all.”

Attending high school during the pandemic is unimaginably rough, but Amelia got by. She graduated from SSHS this year and already has her plans set out for what is next.

“I’m going to Holland College for kinesiology in the fall. I’ll get my diploma in two years and then I want to finish my degree at a university,” she said. “Once I’m done that, I want to go to my bachelor of education and teach at AGS.”

For her upcoming journey, you can expect Amelia to be trying out for the basketball, soccer, and volleyball teams. There is no doubt that she will become a huge asset to any team she plays for.

The community of Listuguj is proud of Amelia and her accomplishments and can’t wait to see her continue thriving.

By Tanner Isaac