Skip to content

Alex Bernardi wins Britt Jessup Award

Alex Bernardi, a multi¬sport athlete at Widdifield Secondary School, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Britt Jessup Award for Athlete of the Year. Bernardi has enjoyed success in basketball, soccer and his favourite sport of volleyball.

Alex Bernardi, a multi¬sport athlete at Widdifield Secondary School, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Britt Jessup Award for Athlete of the Year.

Bernardi has enjoyed success in basketball, soccer and his favourite sport of volleyball. He played basketball in grades 9 and 10.

During this short stint he was the MVP at three tournaments: The Raider Classic, the Canadore Best Western and the Trojan Tournament. Bernardi was a contributing member of the Wildcat junior team that won the 21st Trojan Tournament in 2012. He stopped competing in basketball to focus on volleyball after Grade 10, but he also continued his soccer career.

Bernardi has five NOSSA medals (four gold and one silver) to confirm his prowess at soccer. He began as a goalkeeper, but transitioned to defence as a senior player. Bernardi also competed with the North Bay Jets soccer team. He captained the team for two years and was also named the best defensive player during that time. The Jets won two successive gold medals at the Sudbury Panhellenic Tournaments. Bernardi also played in the Central Soccer league for one year.

According to his Widdifeld soccer coach, Mark Hopper, “Alex is one of the best defenders in Northern Ontario.”

Bernardi’s passion is volleyball. He has led the Cats to four NDA titles, four NOSSA gold medals and one NOSSA silver medal. The team also successfully competed at the provincial OFSAA Championships. While playing for the Cats, Bernardi was named MVP of the team in both Grade 10 and Grade 12. In addition to time on the soccer pitch,

Coach Mark Hopper has also spent a lot of time with Bernardi in the gym. 

“Alex is one of the most dominant dual sport athletes that North Bay has seen in a long time. He is such a coachable athlete. He is the type of person who gives coaches a reason to coach," said Hopper about Bernardi. 

Bernardi has played in the OVA for five years with Vision Volleyball. During that time he has contributed to seven tournament medals: five gold, one silver and one bronze. His team also captured three OVA provincial silver medals. In 2012, Bernardi was presented with the award of excellence from the OVA for the Province of Ontario. He was named an all¬star at four of the tournaments over several seasons.

Bernardi was an outstanding student ¬athlete at Widdifield Secondary School. He was presented with the Jon Stanton HEART (Hustle, Effort, Attitude, Respect, Teamwork) award in his Grade 10 year at the school (top junior athlete). He was also named the Gerald Bailey (top male athlete) in 2014.

Eight universities and colleges have been working hard to convince Bernardi to play volleyball at their institutions, but he has accepted the left side position at the University of Guelph for the fall of 2015. Bernardi will be presented his award at the 36th annual North Bay Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards dinner at the Best Western May 2.

Tickets are available from any executive committee member, by calling chair Bill Jacko at 705476¬1429, Michelle Cundari at 705¬471¬9771 or by e¬mailing the Sports Awards e¬mail at [email protected]. Those interested in searching past inductees are invited to explore the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame website at http:// www.northbaysportshalloffame.ca