The Town of Newmarket is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s Sport Awards and inductees to the Sports Hall of Fame. The Sport Awards recognize coaches, volunteers and athletes, with each award highlighting an inspiring story of commitment and leadership. Newmarket’s longstanding Sports Hall of Fame honours the Town's greatest athletes and builders in sport, preserving the sporting achievements and legacy of individuals who have made a significant contribution to sport within our community.
“Sport has a powerful way of shaping our community, teaching values like teamwork, resilience and respect that extend far beyond the field,” says Mayor John Taylor. “The Newmarket Sport Awards and Sports Hall of Fame give us the opportunity to recognize the coaches, athletes and volunteers whose passion and commitment to sport help build a stronger, more connected community.”
Awards were presented to this year’s recipients during a ceremony at NewRoads Performing Arts Centre on Thursday evening.
Community Spirit Award: Jackie Tranter
Sponsored by Roadhouse & Rose Funeral Home
This award honours an individual, group, or organization that embodies the values of community, inclusion, and support through sport in the Town of Newmarket and recognizes those who make sport a force for connection and positive change.
Jackie has been a passionate supporter of hockey and community since 2021, leading equipment drives for The Indigenous Hockey Drive. Over the past five years, Jackie’s efforts have helped collect more than 485 full hockey bags, 1,000 hockey sticks, and 75 sets of goalie gear, providing equipment to over 1,000 players. When the conflict in Ukraine began, Jackie extended this generosity internationally, coordinating donations and delivering hockey gear to children affected by the war, demonstrating a remarkable commitment to using sport to bring joy and opportunity to youth everywhere.
Coach of the Year: Chris Prior
Sponsored by Signarama
This award honours a coach who has made a significant impact on their athletes and sport community through leadership, mentorship, and a commitment to athlete development.
Chris, a dedicated teacher at Sir William Mulock Secondary School, coaches multiple sports throughout the year, including girls basketball, boys basketball, and girls flag football. Beyond school teams, he also coaches the YNBA Juel Girls Basketball program, a Newmarket-based nonprofit club that helps young athletes pursue their goals of playing at the post-secondary level, fostering skill development, confidence, and a lifelong love of the game.
Inclusive Sport Award: Jay Major and Brent Craddock
Sponsored by Jackie Playter
This award recognizes an individual, team, or organization that has made outstanding efforts to remove barriers and create inclusive opportunities in sport, including para sport, for people of all abilities, backgrounds, and identities. It celebrates those who champion equity, accessibility, and belonging across all levels of participation.
Jay, a dedicated teacher at Maple Leaf Public School, and Brent, a National Sales Manager for educational resources, secured grant funding through Hockey Canada to create a “Learn to Play Hockey” program for students facing financial barriers and newcomers to Canada. By providing full hockey equipment and support, their initiative has helped make the sport more accessible to participants and their families, opening doors to new opportunities and fostering a love of hockey in communities that might otherwise face obstacles to participation.
Youth Athlete of the Year: Riley Innes
Sponsored by NewRoads Automotive Group
This award acknowledges a young athlete (under 18 years of age) who shows exceptional promise, commitment, and sportsmanship, both on and off the field.
Riley has been a standout athlete with the Newmarket Huskies Running Club since grade 7, excelling in cross country and track at both regional and national levels. In 2025 alone, she guided her high school team to a national championship in the U20 Women’s division and earned multiple podium finishes at provincial and national events. A four-time York Region Cross Country Champion and record-holder in the 1,500-metre and 3,000-metre, Riley’s dedication and talent have been recognized with seven OFSAA medals. She has also been selected to represent Team Canada at the 2026 U20 Women’s World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Florida and has earned a full NCAA Division I athletic scholarship to the University of Utah, where she will continue to pursue excellence both on the track and in her studies in Biology and the Sciences.
Team of the Year: Huron Heights Warriors Football Team
Sponsored by Riverwalk Wealth
This award celebrates a team that has demonstrated outstanding achievement, unity, and sportsmanship over the past year, both in competition and in community involvement.
The Huron Heights Warriors football team capped an outstanding 2025 season as OFSAA Southern Bowl champions, finishing undefeated against Canadian teams and earning National Co-champion status. Securing the program’s 9th OFSAA championship banner, this season reinforced Huron Heights’ reputation as one of Canada’s premier high school football programs.
Herb Cain Memorial Award: Jayson French
This award recognizes an individual whose volunteer contributions have significantly enhanced the local sporting community. This person may serve as an organizer, administrator, event helper, or supporter behind the scenes.
Jayson dedicated more than a decade to coaching and volunteering in youth sports in Newmarket. He began with the Newmarket Soccer Club, coaching house league for five years, and spent much of the next decade with the Newmarket Minor Hockey Association (NMHA), where he was named Manager of the Year in 2024-25. His true passion was baseball. Over 10 seasons with the Newmarket Baseball Association, he grew from parent volunteer to head coach starting in 2008-09. Even after a cancer diagnosis in 2023, Jayson continued to lead his teams through the 2024 season. That same year, he was named NBA 13U & Under Rep/Elite Coach of the Year and received the York Simcoe Baseball Association’s Don McKnight Memorial Award for perseverance, dedication, and passion for the game. Jayson’s impact reflected his character as a coach and father – instilling hard work, respect, and sportsmanship while developing young athletes. His legacy lives on in the many players he mentored and inspired.
Athlete of the Year: Maddie McCullough
Sponsored by The Chris Cartwright Team
This award recognizes an individual athlete(s) who has demonstrated exceptional performance, dedication, and sportsmanship throughout the year in their chosen sport. It celebrates excellence in athletic achievement and contribution to their team or sport community.
Maddie is a highly talented and driven hockey player whose dedication has taken her from Newmarket to the international stage. She represented Team Canada U18 in 2025 and 2026, won gold at the 2025 U18 Women’s World Championship, and captured a national title with Team Ontario Red in 2024. Currently leading the OWHL U22 Elite League in goals and points with the Etobicoke Junior Dolphins U22, she pairs elite performance with humility and leadership. Maddie has earned a full NCAA Division I scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where she will continue to excel both athletically and academically. Her perseverance, work ethic, and character make her an outstanding athlete, teammate, and community ambassador.
Sports Hall of Fame Inductees
The Newmarket Sports Hall of Fame preserves the legacy of those who have helped shape the Town’s sporting identity. Through recognition of achievement and service, it highlights how sport fosters participation, inclusion, pride, and resilience, while inspiring current and future participants to strive for excellence and contribute positively to community life.
Charlie Macoun (Category – Builder)
Charlie Macoun was a pioneer of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) and a founding member of the Newmarket 87s (Hurricanes) during the 1987-88 season, helping build the team into a model franchise. He went on to play a significant leadership role within the Ontario Hockey Association and the OJHL, serving as a Director and Chair of the Board of Governors, contributing to the merger of the Metro Junior League and Provincial League, and sitting on the Ontario Hockey Federation’s Junior Council. In recognition of his outstanding service to the game, he received the OHA’s Gold Stick in 2003 and was inducted into the Ontario Junior Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder in 2025.
Drew Laskoski (Category – Builder)
Over a 40-year career, Drew Laskoski has provided athletic therapy and support to thousands in the Newmarket community, from on-field care to clinical recovery. Beginning as a volunteer trainer in 1986-87, he built a long career in Junior ‘B’ and ‘A’ hockey with teams including the Newmarket 87s, Stouffville Spirit, and Newmarket Hurricanes, and served as Athletic Therapist for Team Canada East at the 2014 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, and was named OJHL/OHA Trainer of the Year. Beyond the rink, he co-founded Upper Canada Sports Medicine, supported medical teams at the 1999 and 2015 Pan Am Games, served as President of the Ontario Athletic Therapists Association, played a key role in developing Rowan’s Law – designed to improve concussion safety in amateur competitive sports – and continues to advocate for concussion education and athlete safety.
John Cudmore (Category – Builder)
Over the course of more than four decades, John Cudmore wrote about sports and recreation for the Newmarket/Aurora Era Banner newspapers. A lifelong Newmarket resident, he chronicled sports-related news and events in the community, bringing local sports issues to light and spotlighting generations of local athletes until retiring in 2022. John consistently maintained athletes, coaches and the volunteers who kept the games functioning were the focal point whose stories needed to be told. After representing Newmarket as a player in baseball and hockey as a youth and adult, he coached and managed in the Newmarket Baseball Association for more than 25 seasons, including 15 with the junior Newmarket Hawks team.
Richard Lunney (Category – Athlete/Builder)
Richard “Rich” Lunney has been a cornerstone of sport in Newmarket for more than five decades, leaving a legacy as both an accomplished athlete and a dedicated builder of the game. In the 1970s, he starred as a pitcher and power‑hitting first baseman with the Newmarket Rays fastball club, and also played with the Junior Newmarket Redmen hockey team, earning recognition as a talented multi‑sport athlete. Following his playing career, he devoted more than 25 years to coaching with the Newmarket Hawks, guiding athletes from T‑Ball through Senior and leading teams to multiple local, provincial, and national championships. A committed volunteer and visionary leader, he also played a key role in redeveloping the Newmarket Fairgrounds baseball facility, now Don McKnight Field, creating a premier amateur diamond and a lasting home for future generations.
Congratulations to all of the recipients and inductees! Learn more about the awards at Newmarket.ca/SportAwards
