By Adam Beauchemin
The first time Caily Lemmex saw snow as a toddler, she was intrigued. Now as a 15-year-old, it’s a core part of her being, and the snowboard cross racer hopes that one day it could land her at the Olympics.
On Wednesday evening at the 72nd edition of the annual Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner at the Infinity Convention Centre, Lemmex collected her prize as the top local snowboarder for 2024 alongside the city’s best in amateur sport.
A member of the Ontario high performance team since 2023, Lemmex has twice medalled at the under-15 national championships, earning gold in 2023 and silver in 2024.
Caily planned to attend the Ottawa Sports Awards ceremony with her grandmother, her former principal and of course her mother Joanne, who adopted her from an orphanage in Vietnam and has raised her in Dunrobin as a single mom.
“It’s an amazing ambition,” Joanne says of her daughter’s Olympic dreams. “If she can do it, great. If she can’t, there’s other things out there as well. But, I think if she works hard and wants to do this, with the right support, the right community, and the right people helping us, she can do it.”
Caily underlines that community support has been essential to her early success as an athlete. As her mother notes, there’s little funding available for amateur athletes in Canada and it costs roughly $30,000 per year for Caily to compete, with money going towards coaches, race entry fees, lift passes, hotel stays, commuting and more.
Caily’s ongoing fundraising campaign has played a big role in allowing her to excel.
~~~~~~~~~ Advertisement ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~ Advertisement ~~~~~~~~~
“We wouldn’t be doing any of this right now if it wasn’t for the people who donated to her this year,” Joanne signals. “We’re so grateful to our friends and our community.”
Caily has been hitting the slopes since she was only two years old. While she initially started on skis, she fell in love with snowboarding from the first time she tried it.
“It’s the flow,” explains Caily, who first took up snowboarding at Mount Pakenham and now trains with Club Prestige out of Mont-Ste-Marie. “It’s the rhythm of just the turns and the rollers and everything just put together, it’s so fun to do.”
Joanne recalls Caily, who has ADHD and Tourette syndrome, telling her that she feels most calm while she’s in a race.
“She’s completely focused,” Joanne highlights. “That really stuck with me.”
In her very first race, Caily earned a silver medal. Now, five years later, she’s won many more, but is excited to receive her first Ottawa Sports Awards honour after being nominated by Cassandra Smith, the coach who introduced Caily to snowboard cross.
“When I found out about it, I was kind of shocked, I didn’t know what to say,” Caily recounts.
Joanne says Caily’s drive and determination is the key factor in her success.
“I’ve never had to get her up to go to practices,” Joanne notes. “She’s gung-ho.”
During the season, Caily spends her weekends practicing at Mont Ste. Marie in Quebec. When Caily isn’t training, she and Joanne can be found travelling to participate in circuits across Ontario and Quebec so that Caily can continue to compete against the best-of-the-best in her field.
On weekdays, Caily attends Peak Centre Academy, a private school geared towards developing high-performance athletes, where she takes part in water, weight, and dryland training.
Even when there isn’t snow on the ground, she finds ways to continue perfecting her craft. In summer, Caily cross-trains with Nepean BMX.
It’s not a journey without its sacrifices, but for both Joanne and Caily, every penny and moment spent is worth it.
“Caily loves it,” Joanne underlines. “It keeps her off her phone and out of other things that teenagers shouldn’t be doing. So, I figure that I’d rather put my money there to help her do something that she loves.”
This season’s peak competition will be Caily’s final U15 nationals, where she’ll be chasing another podium finish, relatively nearby at Horseshoe Valley Resort near Barrie.
Her long-term finish line will be to race towards the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.
“That would be really cool to represent my country in the Olympics for a sport that I really like and I find fun,” Caily indicates.
Three-time Olympian Ivanie Blondin will be awarded her record-tying sixth female athlete of the year trophy at the Ottawa Sports Awards, while Paralympian Tyrone Henry will receive his second male athlete of the year honour.
The OSA revealed male and female coach and teams of the year as well as lifetime achievement award honourees alongside the top athlete prizes.
Read More: HIGH ACHIEVERS: Ivanie Blondin, Tyrone Henry repeat as Ottawa Sports Awards’ athletes of the year
Lemmex is one of 68 individuals honoured as the top athlete in their sports, from archery through wrestling, while 52 teams that won major championships last year will also be recognized.
Those winners were announced along with the recipients of the Spirit of Sport Award, a Special Recognition Award and the Ottawa Sports Endowment.
To be presented by High Achievers columnist Martin Cleary, Geneviève Morrison will receive the Spirit of Sport Award after her inspirational pursuit of an Olympic wrestling berth after seven years away from the sport and as a mother to three young kids.
Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club masters sprinter Wendy Alexis will receive a Special Recognition Award. Alexis has been alive for almost all the OSA banquets and is ramping up to chase a world-record performance this coming season of under 14.70 seconds in the women’s 100 metres for the women’s 70-75 age group.
The $500 Ottawa Sports Endowment donation will go to the Nepean Nighthawks Field Hockey Club in support of its Stick Together Program, which provides free registrations and transportation to Indigenous kids in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action on sport.
Nighthawks club founders Sandeep and Maureen Chopra will also be receiving the Mayor’s Cup for Outstanding Contribution to Sport in Ottawa.
The full list of winners and a summary of their achievements can be found at OttawaSportsAwards.ca.
Look for more coverage on the Ottawa Sports Awards later this week.
~ SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM ~
We need your help to keep producing the local sports news you can’t find anywhere else!
