News

Joe Griffith Trophy Winner Announced for the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games
Aug 4, 2016

The Saskatchewan Games Council is pleased to announce that Team South East has captured the Joe Griffith Trophy as a result of their performance at the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games in Estevan.

Team South East athletes Lais Lindquist (Volleyball), Ethan Bill (Basketball), and Zach Ashworth (Basketball) as well as Chef de Mission, Helen Fornwald, accepted the trophy in Estevan on Thursday, August 4th.

The Joe Griffith Trophy is awarded to the District team showing the greatest percentage improvement from their final standing at the previous Games.  Comparison is made on a summer-to-summer and winter-to-winter bases.  The final flag point standings from the 2012 Saskatchewan Summer Games in Meadow Lake were used as the comparison.

“The Joe Griffith Trophy is an exciting award because it goes beyond the medal count, and really rewards District teams for their overall performance improvement from the previous games,” said Mark Bracken, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Games Council. “Congratulations to Team South East for their success at the 2016 Games . . . as the hosting team they really stepped up and had some great performances.”

Team South East had an overall improvement of 9.6 percent from the 2012 Saskatchewan Summer Games. Team Saskatoon was a close second, with a percentage improvement of 8.2. Next was Team Parkland Valley with an improvement of 4.8 percent.

The Joe Griffith Trophy was designed and created by sculptor Douglas Bentham and is named after Joe Griffith a long time Physical Educator at the University of Saskatchewan and Athletics and Swimming coach. Griffith has earned many honors, was a two-time Canadian Olympic Coach and is a member of the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.

The 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games took place in Estevan from July 24 – 30. The Games were a huge success, with the approximate 2000 athletes, coaches, and mission staff making these Games the largest in Saskatchewan Games history.  Team Saskatoon captured the Games Flag for the best overall performance at the Games and topped the medal count with a total of 114 medals.