MGCI’s annual Athletic Banquet was held on 18 May 2016, from 5:30 to 10:30 pm at the Thorncliffe Banquet Hall. In total, 143 students attended the event, and 20 staff and coaches gave up their Wednesday nights to support them.

The attendance for the Athletic Banquet was quite low, compared to last year’s number of 180 tickets sold. This could have been due to the short period of ticket sales, which began two days prior to the event, although they were supposed to start the week before. The organizers for the event had miscommunicated  about when to order the tickets, and so the Marc Garneau Athletics Association (MGAA) only received the tickets on Monday 16 May.

The price for the event was $10 for athletes who had paid their $20 athletic fee, $30 for those who have not, and $35 for non-athletes.

The night consisted of awards to recognize almost 75 athletes, dinner, a slideshow of pictures from sports throughout the year, and a dance. In addition to the Most Improved Player, Most Dedicated Player, and Most Valuable player awards for each sports team, there were 5 special award winners, as follows:

Jr. Girls’ Athlete of the Year: Aya Shanti

Jr. Boys’ Athlete of the Year: Ali Bokhari

Sr. Girls’ Athlete of the Year: Lucy Xu

Sr. Boys’ Athlete of the Year: Joshua Babatid

Chris Penney Leadership Award: Hajra Arif

When asked to comment on the event, Mr. Hillman, the main organizer, said, “The best of the best at Marc Garneau come together to celebrate all the successes that were produced throughout the year.”

Apart from the awards, students also enjoyed a dinner consisting of salad, pasta, butter chicken, and chocolate cake. Throughout the night, raffle prizes, such as Tim Hortons, Best Buy, and Cineplex gift cards,  and a basketball signed by Kyle Lowry were given out.

Originally during June, the date of the Athletic Banquet was changed to accommodate for Ramadan. However, because the event occurred so early, awards for the cricket team were not awarded because the cricket season had not yet started. Furthermore, the date of the Athletic Banquet posed conflicts for the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team, who had the game the day of.

Overall, students enjoyed the event and celebrating athletics at Garneau. Zainab Bokhari, one of the organizers of the event, said that “people are enjoying themselves and having a good time, so I think it’s going pretty well!”

“Everyone’s really friendly and inviting, and they always have a positive attitude.” Commented Sr. Girls’ Athlete of the Year, Lucy Xu, on her experience on school teams at Garneau, “It’s been a great experience over the past for years, and I have gotten really close to some of my team mates.”