Olivia Popp, 17, is the recipient of the 2022 Mort Fellman Memorial Award for outstanding achievement by a female athlete.
Olivia, a grade 12 student at École secondaire catholique Algonquin, is a multi-sport athlete. Although she is being recognized for her accomplishments in tennis, badminton, and Olympic Weightlifting, she also plays volleyball for ÉSCA.
In tennis, as a grade 11 student, Olivia and her partner Tristan Koch placed 1st at NDA, 1st at NOSSA, and made it to the round of 16 at OFSAA losing only to the 1st seed.
This led to her being awarded ÉSCA’s tennis MVP. Her winning streak continued as she proceeded to win the North Bay Tennis Club Spring Slam event in the women’s singles category. At the North Bay Tennis Club championships, she finished 1st in both the women’s singles and doubles with partner Andriana Nadeau.
In badminton, she is part of the high-performance team in North Bay. In 2022, at the KTP Racquet Club championships, she won the U19 girls single draw. She also finished 2nd at the Stratford Jr. B U19 tournament.
Finally, as a member of the Norsmen and Valkyries weightlifting club, Olivia finished 1st in the Ontario weightlifting youth/junior championships in the 64kg weight class and 3rd in the Ray Hamilton/Bob Leclair weightlifting competition in the women’s 71kg weight class.
Olivia credits her parents and her coaches for encouraging and coaching her along the way. In particular, she credits Fransua Rachmann, Kurt Templemans Plat, Logan Baker, and Larry Sheppard for having spent many extra hours in a gym and on courts helping develop the skills Olivia needed and continues to need to be a provincial champion. Extra time spent refining skills is what Olivia likes to do.
She trains six days a week, whether at ÉSCA, the North Bay Granite Club, the KTP Racquet Club, or the YMCA.
According to her badminton coach, Kurt Templemans Plat: “If there is one word to describe Olivia, it is relentless. This is one of the hardest workers I have had the pleasure of coaching. She never stops giving her best effort and has developed plenty of incredible skills because of it. I was not surprised when I heard she won this award, Olivia Popp deserves it for her dedication to all sports!”
Olivia and the other recipients will be accepting their awards atthe 42nd Annual Induction and Awards Dinner to be held at the Davedi Club on Saturday, May 6th, 2023. Tickets are available by calling Bill Jacko at 705-492-3961.
