Augie Ciancone Memorial Award - Young Female Athlete

Augie Ciancone Memorial Award - Female High School Athlete of the Year 2023 - Finalists

The 49th annual Civic & Community Awards finalists will be celebrated on April 24 at the Civic & Community Awards Gala, taking place at the Laurel Packinghouse

Claire Pasenau 

With a 98% average academically and a long list of volunteerism and sport participation, Claire Pasenau is an inspiration and role model at Kelowna Christian School. Captain of both KCC Senior Girls’ Basketball and Volleyball teams, Claire has also qualified for provincials in two categories with the school’s swim team. In club volleyball, she plays Division 1 with the T2 Gold U17 team. Claire golfs as well, most recently placing second in the 2023 Maple Leaf Junior Tour Western Championship. When not competing, Claire volunteers at KGH and was an essential leader in the development of a vacation bible school program for children. 

Emma Pinkerton 

In addition to being captain of both KSS Girls’ Basketball and Field Hockey teams, Emma Pinkerton holds a 91.2% average at KSS. Since sixth grade, Emma’s played club basketball with GW Hoops and Kelowna’s FYBA Basketball Club. She has also played on the AthElite U17 GUAA Team and the Genesis U16 Team that participates in the Nike Circuit. She was recently selected for Basketball BC’s Centre for Performance Training. Off the court, Emma is a member of the Grad Council, volunteers with the Central Okanagan Food Bank and is a member of the Kiwanis Club. 

Jada Burden 

A solid “A” student with a 4.0 GPA, Jada Burden leads her peers as co-president of the OKM student grad council. In addition to being involved with the AME reading program and scorekeeping for volleyball and basketball games, Jada is a Rotarian and a member of the extracurricular Leadership Excellence program. Jada runs with the OKM Cross Country team, competes in track and field and plays on the Senior Girls Soccer and Basketball teams as well as the Co-ed Ultimate Frisbee team. Outside school, she’s on the OC Jr Coyotes Basketball team and captain of her provincial winning Kelowna United Soccer girls’ team. 

About the Augie Ciancone Memorial Award for Young Female Athlete

Augie Ciancone was instrumental in setting up Kelowna's first formal sports and recreation program for youth. He was an all-around athlete, excelling in gymnastics, lacrosse, boxing and horsemanship.

Augie's greatest gift was his ability and personal desire to encourage the young people of Kelowna to get involved in sports. He also challenged them to achieve their personal best. His goal was to turn their lives around by instilling the desire to challenge and achieve personal satisfaction through sports.  

Augie passed away in January of 1952.

Award Criteria

• Awarded to the most outstanding female high school athlete in the area of the Central Okanagan.
• Winner is chosen by the Okanagan Central Schools Athletic Association.

Nominations for the 49th annual Civic & Community Awards are now closed. Check back in fall 2024 for information about the 50th annual awards nomination period.