Aucoin and Mercer named 2023 Soccer Nova Scotia Players of the Year

Abigail Aucoin and Colby Mercer were named Soccer Nova Scotia’s 2023 Players of the Year. The two young Canadian footballers were honoured on Saturday 2 December as part of Soccer Nova Scotia’s 2023 Night of Excellence.

Ava MacDonald and Mohammed Tolba were named the Youth Performance Players of the Year while Steve Wilcox was named the Performance Coach of the Year. Ben Hoskins and Emily MacKinnon were both named Officials of the Year, Josie Thompson and Logan Wigglesworth were named the Young Officials of the Year and Luke Berryman won the 2023 Person of Distinction Award. Halifax City SC U-17 Boys and CC Riders U-13 Girls were named the Teams of the Year while the Team Mi’kmaw Nova Scotia Soccer Project was recognised as the Innovative Program of the Year.

Also recognised on the evening, Carman King, Larry Porter, Wendell MacGibbon and Norma Horne all received Special Recognition Awards for their outstanding contributions to the referee community. In honour of local volunteers, Heather Campbell (Cape Breton), Megan Meeds (Halifax), Emma Parkington (Harbour East), Makenna McPherson and Connor Hall (South Shore), Peter Crowe (Suburban) and Heather Rafuse (Valley) were named Regional Volunteers of the Year.

Sophia Beach (Cape Breton), Allister Miles (Halifax), Brooklynn Wells (Harbour East), Chase McDermott (Highland), Brooklynn Myra (South Shore), Colton Pettipas (Suburban) and Lily Banfield-Wile (Valley) were named the Community Players of the Year while Claire Kaupp (Cape Breton), Dominic Nguyen (Halifax), Macie McLeod (Harbour East), Sam and Zach Boone (Highland), Xander Schnare (South Shore), Brooklyn Breckenbridge (Suburban) and Clara Blenus (Valley) were named the Grassroots Players of the Year. Pat Connors was named the Community Coach of the Year while Hunter Brown was named the Grassroots Coach of the Year.