Annually the JSA of LIS awards several trophies that focus on character and dedication to sailing, outstanding junior sailing instruction, and season-long sportsmanship.
The special trophies for 2011 were presented by Pam Toner, JSA Chair, during the Midwinter Meeting at the Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck NY on February 11.
BROOKE E. GONZALEZ MEMORIAL TROPHY
- The Brooke E. Gonzalez Memorial Trophy is awarded to a girl who demonstrates exceptional character, dedication to the sport of sailing and outstanding sailing achievement among her female peers. Brooke Gonzalez was admired for her enthusiasm for sailing, beginning with Optimists, through Blue Jays, Lasers and finally Intl 420s. These attributes led her to be Commodore of the Junior American Yacht Club and a leading force of the Intl 420 Class US Team. Her bright smile and obvious excitement for sail racing was seen by many people at clubs all over the Sound. Brooke’s friends collaborated to create this trophy to keep her memory alive.
The 2011 Gonzalez Trophy has been awarded to Rebecca Quirke, of American Yacht Club. Becca was nominated by leaders of her junior sailing program because they felt the recipient of this prestigious award should be a young woman who embodies the Corinthian spirit on which our sport was founded. Having been a multi-year junior sailing instructor and Junior American Yacht Club Commodore, she is a role model of ethical and sportsmanlike behavior for younger sailors. Additionally, Becca embraces the overall goal of creating life-long sailors through the excitement and the long-lasting friendships of the junior sailing program. She is an extraordinary young woman who embodies integrity, morality, compassion and friendship.
We also congratulate Bridget Clarke, who was nominated for the Gonzalez award by Pequot Yacht Club.
SUSIE TROTMAN TROPHY
- The Susie Trotman Trophy for outstanding sailing instruction is awarded to an instructor who exhibits ethical behavior by both personal example and instruction. He or she also must show a high level of administrative competence, good communicative skills with parents and sailors, creative teaching techniques, responsibility and reliability, initiative, good judgment and leadership, dedication and motivation as well, as have working relationships with peers. Susie Trotman’s contribution to training sailors spans over-30 years, including serving as chair of the junior sailing program at Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club, chair of the US Sailing Association national training committee, organizer of the Oyster Bay Sailing Foundation Advanced Racing Clinics, spearhead for the development of US Sailing instructor training courses, and US Sailing regional training coordinator in the Long Island Sound area.
Carter Harris accepts the Susie Trotman trophy on behalf of Juan Pablo Carranza
The 2011 Trotman Trophy has been awarded to Juan Pablo Carranza, of Indian Harbor Yacht Club. He was nominated by his junior sailing program because of his ability to encourage and challenge his junior sailors and his ability to communicate with them in a very effective way. He shows a genuine interest in the young sailors, from top finishers to the back of the fleet, demonstrating the integrity and character of a true role model to the sailors whom he directs daily. Always excited to go for a sail, he is the first to motivate the younger kids who may be slightly apprehensive on a windy day, or lead the racers around a new style of course. His initiative was demonstrated after a micro-burst hit the club on a weekend, and he took charge to direct the recovery and repair of the entire C420 fleet within three days. Further, he rescued one of his sailors from a capsized boat when she was trapped beneath the hull unable to escape. Juan Pablo’s unrelenting willpower, initiative and great personality make him a great friend, coach, and instructor.
We also congratulate Emily Stubbs, who was nominated for the Trotman award by Stamford Yacht Club; Meredith Krim, nominated by Douglaston Yacht Squadron; and Graham Landy, nominated by American Yacht Club.
MITCHELL S. WEEKS MEMORIAL TROPHY
-The Mitchell S. Weeks Memorial Trophy is presented by the JSA of LIS and the New York Yacht Club to sailors who show outstanding sportsmanship. Mitchell Weeks was a very active member of New York Yacht Club before his death from leukemia. Mitch's sailing career began at age six in dinghies. At age eight, he was sailing a Blue Jay single-handed. As a young man, he was in great demand as fore-deck crew aboard racing and cruising boats. He was Junior Commodore of Indian Harbor Yacht Club, and a Sailing Instructor at the Junior American Yacht Club. At St. Paul's School he won the Tolland Medal awarded for "Outstanding Sportsmanship, Dedication, Integrity, and Courage." The purpose of the Weeks trophy is to underscore for generations of young sailors to come that the true benefits of sport come from the integrity, courage, and fairness with which the game is played. Four awards may be made annually, one each in the C420 (a skipper and a crew, individually), Laser and Laser Radial classes.
The 2011 Weeks trophy has been awarded to two sailors.
The Laser class award went to Wilson Hunt, of American Yacht Club, who was cited as the keystone of his junior sailing program. He sails because he truly loves the sport and works hard to make sure his competitors and friends enjoy themselves. Wilson wants to learn and also have fun on the water, and he makes sure that everyone, including his coaches, is getting something out of the experience - he has always seen the bigger picture of what junior sailing truly is about. Always a great role model, his friends love him, his competitors respect him, the coaches value his contributions and the younger sailors look up to him.
The Radial class award went to Glenn Blair, of Pequot Yacht Club,
who has helped to rebuild the Laser/Radial group at his club. He consistently demonstrates a competitive but sensitive attitude and is respectful of his peers, instructors and of his competitors. He always looks for advice on how to improve, tries out new strategies in the boat, and wants to understand how a race turned out the way it did. He then takes this knowledge and applies it the next morning during junior mentoring, where he shows true proclivity for teaching and a genuine desire to help others learn. He repeatedly exhibits a desire to push himself and his peers further in increasingly competitive regattas.
We also congratulate Thomas McHugh, who was nominated for the Weeks award by Black Rock Yacht Club.