Not all of the varsity athletes at Cambrian College follow a direct route to the home of the Golden Shield.

The key, I suppose, is making the most of your time once you get there.

Tuesday night at the New Sudbury campus, athletes and coaches, support staff and various administrators celebrated another outstanding year of athletics for the Shield.

And when all was said and done, it was a talented duo who had meandered their way to Cambrian that were feted with the top awards of the evening, with Jocelyn Way (women’s soccer) and Sven Trodel (men’s volleyball) recognized as Female and Male Athlete of the Year respectively.

After spending four years at Laurentian University with the Voyageurs’ women’s soccer team, Way had her sights set on the Paramedics program at Cambrian – though not necessarily combined with a return to the pitch.

“I didn’t initially plan on playing at Cambrian,” said the 22 year-old native of Schomberg (ON). “I honestly didn’t envision this happening at all. Unexpected – I guess that’s the word.”

With the pandemic and other factors limiting her playing time at L.U., Way is thrilled that ultimately, the fickle hands of fate directed her towards a memorable opportunity in the OCAA.

“In looking at the whole picture, it’s definitely been a bit of a bumpy road,” she said. “I’m very happy with how far I have come from my first year at Laurentian to now at Cambrian. At the end of the day, you want to play. You want to be on the field and play as hard as you can.”

“This stuff is just the cherry on top of the cake.”

The whip cream, if you will (continuing with the analogy) came in the form of some shifting in the lineup as early season injuries forced Way to move well outside of her comfort zone – with far better results than she expected.

“I think one of the biggest thrills this year was having the opportunity to play out and perform well as a defender – which terrified the living hell out of me.”

Now in his late twenties and having spent a handful of summers coming ever-so-close to cracking the national beach volleyball team roster, Sven Trodel is not about to be terrified by a whole lot these days. But after sharing Male Athlete of the Year honours last year with teammate Jack Daley, the Lockerby Composite grad reflected on a few other elements that set this year apart from last.

“The team is a lot younger this year, so a little different for me, personally,” stated Trodel as the Cambrian men claimed OCAA bronze for a second straight year. “We went through a lot of ups and downs, a lot of injuries this year. We persevered through a lot this year.”

And with Daley and Stephen Brown moving along, Trodel took on even a larger role than the mentor he was in 2022-2023.

“I felt a lot like a player-coach this year,” he suggested. “Obviously, Dale (Beausoleil) is the head coach but when the guys wanted to work on individual things and Dale was working on team drills, they might pull me aside to help. I have coached a lot in beach volleyball, so that helped. It was cool, helping the younger guys develop.”

“It would have been nice to win,” Trodel continued. “Losing to Fanshawe – AGAIN – in the semi-finals and at Fanshawe – AGAIN – was pretty tough. But it was fun to do it with a much younger and newer team, kind of showing them what it feels like to win, to be a winning team.”

On the flipside, Trodel experienced all that comes from being on the receiving end of such guidance, just one of the factors that makes stepping away with a year of eligibility remaining so very, very difficult.

“Coming back, being part of the team, having Dale as a coach and mentor for everything – not just volleyball – and the group of guys that are around; it’s all so special,” said the man who become the first CCAA All-Canadian at the school since 2017-2018. “Even though we are a bit different in many ways, we’re a team. You come together, as a team. You take care of each other.”

“I’ll miss that the most, to be honest.”

For as much as that is a feeling that predominates with many a graduating athlete, there are times when it extends through to the coaching ranks. Women’s soccer coach and Cambrian alumnus Evan Phillips recently accepted a position with the Sudbury Cyclones, forcing the always pleasant young man to step away from a group that he adores.

“There’s a lot of mixed emotions,” said Phillips. “I am very excited for Sudbury soccer and the opportunities within the SWSE. But right now would be my planning time. I kind of feel a little lost that I am not doing that.”

Stepping into his coaching role only a small handful of years following his own graduation from the OCAA playing ranks, Phillips jumped in knowing that he would exit a better coach. “One of the biggest things that I needed to learn was just patience,” he said. “Patience in a lot of different ways: on the field, off the field, in building relationships.”

“Personal relationships (with your players) get you to that next step. I said this was my favourite group in large part because of all of the relationships. To see them graduating now, working in the community, coaching in the community – it makes me immensely proud.”

Following are some of the remaining awards that were announced on Tuesday:

Cross-Country Running
Rookie of the Year – Caleb Burn
Most Improved – Gabriel Lannin
Coach’s Award – Gagandeep Syan
MVP – Matthew Hudsmith

Women’s Soccer
Rookie of the Year – Gillian Spraggett
Most Improved – Jenna Lowe
Coach’s Award – Grace Cranston
MVP – Jocelyn Way

Men’s Soccer
Rookie of the Year – Luis Daly
Most Improved – Rushawn Boscoe
Coach’s Award – Joshua Vivero
MVP – Musa Joof

Badminton
Rookie of the Year - Jamie Hopkins
Most Improved – Riley Olkkinen
Coach’s Award – Nicole Yaworsky
MVP – Jamie Hopkins

Women’s Volleyball
Rookie of the Year – Allison Nordquist
Most Improved – Jersey Masson & Kennedy Bellefeuille
Coach’s Award – Mackenzie Selk
MVP – Brielle Chicoine

Extramural Cricket
Rookie of the Year – Darsh Patel
Most Improved – Het Kalpeshkumar Patel
Coach’s Award – Firaskhan Pathan & Bhamin Rakeshbnai
MVP – Yatin Sukhija

Men’s Volleyball
Rookie of the Year – Liam Hansen & Kyle Perreault
Most Improved – Conor Dorsey
Coach’s Award – Kurtis Brisebois
MVP – Dylan Terris & Sven Trodel

Sudbury Five Basketball Scholarships
Musa Joof; Kyle Perreault; Cole Lejambe; Abby Wellwood

Sudbury Masters Running Club Bursary
Caleb Burn; Matthew Hudsmith; Marven Hunter; Gabriel Lannin; Abhishrii Puri; Gaganddep Singh; Carson Turney; Martin Wissell; Abby Wellwood

Peter Guy Memorial Bursary
Conor Dorsey - Men's Volleyball

Vern Dow Memorial Bursary
Nora Dzuirban; Meili Betty; Gabriel Lannin

Dynamic Therapy Perseverance Award
Jamie Hopkins - Badminton