Vancouver, BC – Tennis BC would like to congratulate VLTBC’s Ken Dahl on his most recent achievement: being named Sport BC’s Master Athlete of the Year.
On March 8th, 2017 Sport BC held the 51st Athlete of the Year Awards at the Fairmont Waterfont Hotel. This annual event recognizes the achievements of athletes, coaches and official across BC, across all sports.
Two other members of the tennis community in BC were nominated for an award. In the category of Junior Male Athlete of the Year, Benjamin Sigouin was a runner up, while in the Male Coach of the Year category, Oded Jacob was a runner up.
Congratulations to all three members of our community on their outstanding achievements, hard work and recognition at the Sport BC Athlete of the Year Awards.
In honour of Ben, Oded and Ken, please find a summary of their most recent achievements below:
Benjamin Sigouin
Thanks to his breakthrough year in 2016, 17-year-old Benjamin Sigouin started this season out as the #4 junior male tennis player in the world. Last year saw Benjamin reach the Finals of the Boys Doubles at the Junior US Open in New York, the Boys Doubles semifinals at Junior Wimbledon and the singles Quarterfinals at the Junior French Open. He also won the Tennis BC Excellence Award for Junior Male Athlete of the Year. In the last decade, Benjamin is only the second player from BC to be ranked in the world’s U18 Top 10. At such a young age, Benjamin already embodies what it is to be a professional athlete. His humility and hard work ethic, both on and off the court are proven through his consistent results. Benjamin gives back to our local community day-in and day-out by inspiring us to pick up our own tennis rackets, ultimately helping to grow tennis, sports and an active lifestyle across BC and Canada.
Oded Jacob
Since Oded’s arrival in BC as a National Coach for Tennis Canada, tennis in BC and in Canada has made huge strides. Our country and players are extremely fortunate to receive the guidance of one of the world’s top tennis coaches. A former professional player himself, Oded came to Canada after coaching both the men’s and women’s Israeli National Teams where he was instrumental in guiding a number of players to reach the Top 50 in the world. Since becoming the Head Coach of Western Canada’s National Tennis Canada Training Program, based at the North Shore Winter Club, BC has seen more Canadian National Champions than ever before. The highlight in his career in Canada thus far has been leading the Canadian Junior Davis Cup Team to become World Champions in 2015 and re-affirming their place on the world stage by reaching the World Finals once more in 2016. Prior to Oded’s arrival, Team Canada had never won the Junior Davis Cup. Oded’s ability to inspire young players, combined with his humility, dedication, and integrity as a coach and mentor day-in and day-out has made all the difference in tennis in BC and Canada.
Ken Dahl
Ken Dahl’s road to becoming a world champion has been quite an inspiring journey. Having grown up on the public tennis courts of Stanley Park, Ken went on to play the professional tennis tour in his twenties. At the age of 35, Ken hung up his racket and had moved on from the sport. After a decade of not competing, he returned to tennis and has been making history ever since. In 2016, Ken won the Steve Stevens Senior Canadian National Championships, in both the 70s singles and doubles. He would finish the year as world champion in Men’s 70s singles, bringing home the first place trophy from the Super-Seniors World Championship in Umag, Croatia. Ken’s success this past year has earned him the #2 ranking in BC, #3 in Canada and as high as #5 in the world in his category. Stepping away from a sport for over a decade and coming back to it later in life is not an easy feat. Stepping away from a sport for over a decade and coming back faster and fitter than ever to win a World Championship – that’s a whole other level.
Read the full news release from Sport BC here, including the recipients of all the awards.
