Former GREC student receives award from Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame

Craig Bakay | Nov 01, 2019

Parham athlete Tangie Howes was recognized Saturday, Oct. 19 by the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame as one of four KASSAA athletes honoured for their athletic and academic prowess.

Howes began her GREC career in Grade 7 and continued on playing “every sport available to me.”

Of those, she cites volleyball as her number 1, but she also excelled in track, basketball and badminton. Outside of school, she played rep girls softball. “Marcie (Asselstine) was an awesome coach,” she said.

Jo-Ann Brown, speaking for the HOF, said the bursary is available only to KASSAA athletes and requires them to apply with a resume and cover letter saying why they should be considered.

They also require a reference letter from a coach, teacher or volunteer association supervisor.

“They have to have a lot of sports and high academic standards,” Brown said. “They’re also leaders in their own right.

“We look to see they’ve done things outside of school — they’re very busy young men and women.”

Howes, who’s now in her first year at Queen’s University with an eye towards kinesiology, certainly qualifies there. Besides her athletic activities, she was also heavily involved in student council, student athletic council and intramurals.

“She’s very conscientious and well-spoken,” her coach and teacher, Liz Steele-Drew said at the ceremony.

“It was wicked for me to win,” Howes said. “There are a lot of great athletes in Kingston and this means a lot to me because I come from such a small school of 120 people.

“I need to thank all my coaches at GREC, especially Liz, my family, and our bus driver, Mitch Cox, who drove us to all the games.

“You gotta love Mitch.”

Along with a plaque, the award comes with a $1,000 bursary to help defray some post-secondary expenses.

Howes said she intends to keep up her athletic endeavours as she continues with a career in kinesiology.

“I’ve wanted to get into kinesiology ever since I figured out what it is,” she said.