Shawna Pearman is a celebrated athlete, coach and volunteer, and has just been honoured by the Red Deer Sports Awards Committee by being awarded their Sports Lifetime Achievement Award for her volunteer efforts. 

Born in Winnipeg, Shawna Pearman has been a figure in competitive Canadian sports since qualifying for the 1975 Canada Winter Games for long-track speedskating.

After moving to Ponoka in 1992, she founded the Red Deer Central Lions Speed Skating Club, which eventually turned into a real family affair. All three of her daughters would eventually join the club, while her husband Myron helped coach.

The Pearman Family. (L-R) Myron, Tess, Brooke, Maddison, and Shawna. Photo courtesy of Shawna Pearman.

However, it was her most recent stint as the Sport Lead of the long track speed skating event at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer that came to mind when she reflected on her volunteer work she is most proud of.

"That was an amazing opportunity and an amazing event for the athletes, the community of Red Deer, our club in Red Deer, and I think in Central Alberta because it seemed like Central Alberta really jumped on board. So I think for that, it was the best event so far I've worked."

Pearman says everybody has something that they can give back, and it's all about finding the right group, and some free time, to help make a positive and lasting impact.

"For me, my background is definitely a sports background and being involved in different teams at different levels, and I just felt that that's my expertise, and that's where I can give back to the community and give back to kids and students. And you know what? My parents both were great volunteers and involved in my life growing up, coaching and being involved in what I did, so it just kind of filters down, that's what I saw, and saw that I could provide that role. And also having three children, I got involved in their lives as well and felt that that's where I can give back and coach and provide that direction."

Her daughter Maddison has followed in her footsteps, getting into speed skating and competing on a national level, recently competing in her first World Cup event in Calgary.  

Maddison Pearman after winning a gold medal in the team sprint at the 4Continents speed skating championship. Photo courtesy of Maddison Pearman.

Her other daughter Tess Pearman is also a local athletic star, being named the Red Deer College Athlete of the week back in February for all the great work she's done this year as an outside hitter for the Queen's volleyball team. 

Pearman's three daughters were all big into sports growing up, playing most school sports, and preferring soccer to softball, despite their mother playing on the national softball team for 6 years.

She says she's proud of her daughter's athletic achievements and even prouder that she was able to instill them with the important value of volunteering.

"You know what, all three of my daughters give back and volunteer themselves, and I think that's a reflection because both my husband and I do, and they just think, "yea, that's what we should do too" ".

Tess Pearman. Photo courtesy of Red Deer College Athletics.

She said she was very humbled and honoured when she found out she was being awarded the City of Red Deer's Sports Lifetime Achievement Award.

"You don't volunteer for the accolades and to be recognized, you do it because you feel it's something that you can give back to your community and give back to kids, and it's just something that I think is important that we all do, and if we all were more invested in those things then I think we would all be better off...I get a lot back from the people and the kids that you've involved with, you do get a lot back from them."

Typically, the Red Deer Sports Awards Committee hands out these awards are handed out at a Red Deer Rebels game late in the season, but due to the cancellation of the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, less formal arrangements were made. 

Also honoured this year are Jeremiah Lauzon, the Male Athlete of the Year for his outstanding work as a runner with the Red Deer Titans Track and Field Club, and Kalena Soehn, who is the Female Athlete of the Year for picking up several medals in the world of competitive trampolining over the past couple of years.