OTTAWA – Montreal native Carey Ashton, bench coach with the McGill Redbirds men’s baseball team, has been declared the winner of the 2010 Chunky Most Valuable Coach Award after garnering the most votes in an online balloting.
Ashton was one of six finalists among nearly 900 nominees from across Canada. Along with the title of Chunky MVC, Ashton will also receive $25,000 to help fund sport for his athletes and his community.
A 13-year veteran baseball coach, Ashton was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a child but has been a shining example to his young players that anything can be accomplished despite any disabilities. In 2007, Ashton was named the Community Unsung Hero of the Year by a local Montreal radio station.
“One of the many reasons I enjoy coaching is that allows me to look beyond my disability,” says Ashton in an interview with the McGill Reporter. “I hope it also inspires other people with disabilities to get involved in the community and follow their dreams, whatever they may be.”
As a bench coach for the McGill Redbirds, he helped guide the team to the 2006 national championship in the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association, McGill’s first such title.
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