As the winter term comes to an end, UW’s athletics department gathered at PAC on Tuesday to celebrate another exciting year of sports for the Warriors. The largest athletics banquet in UW history, with 880 people in attendance, saw the women’s golf team take home the team of the year award, with Coach Carla Munch receiving the Imprint Coach of the Year award, while squash players Cameron Seth and Niki Shemirani received the male and female athlete of the year awards, respectively. Scroll below for a full timeline of events.

Administrative Awards 

Elder Myeengun Henry wins the Campus Service award

The first award of the night, presented by Director of Athletics and Recreation Roly Webster, was handed to Elder Myeengun Henry for his outstanding contributions to the athletics department over the past year. He is an Indigenous knowledge keeper who has provided his services towards decolonization and Indigenization throughout the university.

Figure skating student-athlete coach Rebecca Brown wins the Director’s award

Following Henry, student services coordinator and IU coordinator Justin Sargeson took the stage to present Rebecca Brown with the Director’s Award, presented to an athlete who has made incredible administrative contributions to their team. Brown gracefully accepted the award, to thunderous applause from her team. This season was particularly eventful for the program; despite not having a head coach, fourth-year Brown stepped up to both skate for and coach the team. The team went on to win three OUA bronze medals, including the first medal in program history for the Gold Artistic event. 

Men’s hockey defenseman Simon Rose secures the J.O. Hemphill award

Immediately following Brown was Simon Rose, taking the stage to accept the J.O. Hemphill award, given for the same reasons as the Director’s award. Rose, who is in his final year of university and serves as the team’s assistant captain, sat out the first several weeks of the season due to a back injury but remained heavily involved in practices and meetings. He scored a game-winning goal in his return to the ice and has been an incontrovertible part of the program.  

Alysa Sitar and Rachel-Lynn Fauteux take home the Brian Farrance award

Named for Brian Farrance, one of the first graduates of UW’s kinesiology program, this award is given to student therapists who provide exceptional service to Warrior Athletics. Sitar and Fauteux work for the women’s and men’s hockey teams, respectively. 

Kianna Simpson and Diane Choi awarded Student Manager of the Year

This award is given to a student manager who excels in providing for their team through operational and administrative work. Simpson manages the women’s basketball team while Choi manages men’s hockey. 

Phoenix Stone wins Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year

Presented to a graduating undergraduate student who has exceeded expectations in training and working alongside student athletes, the crowd erupted when Stone’s name was announced. 

Athletic Awards

Women’s golf named Team of the Year

Having won their first OUA gold medal since 2011 this past season, UW’s most successful athletics program was unsurprisingly recognized as the best this year. This season, Alysa Jamal, Abby Barker and Jadelina Tep-Chhun were named all-stars, supported by Coach Carla Munch, who was named OUA Women’s Golf Coach of the Year. 

“I am so proud of our team… To see them awarded with the Team of the Year trophy was so special because of the bond this team has,” said Munch when asked for comment.  

Imprint Coach of the Year goes to Jon Morgan and Carla Munch

Right after stepping down, Munch joined men’s soccer coach Jon Morgan on the stage when both were named as the men’s and women’s coaches of the year. Morgan coached the men’s soccer team to a 7-2-3 season before falling in the OUA semi-finals after finishing 3-7-2 last year. The team had four players recognized as OUA all-stars, two on the first team and two on the second, and Matthew Mills was named a U Sports All-Canadian. 

Jon Elezi of men’s soccer and Jadelina Tep-Chhun of women’s golf named WUSA Male and Female Rookies of the Year

These two teams are going to run out of space in their display cases! Both of these rookies had generational seasons, earning all-star honours, and Tep-Chhun won an individual silver medal at the OUA championships. The Warriors have a bright future ahead with these two on the roster.

OUA and U Sports award winners recognized, individual team awards announced

Athletes who won awards during their season had their names and photos displayed on the screen, followed by individual team recognitions, voted on by team members. A list of these winners can be found on each team’s Instagram.

Heavlyn Sekyere of women’s rugby and Fehin Awobodu of men’s volleyball win Judy McCrae Warrior Impact Award

The two overall winners of this year’s Judy McCrae award, given to one member of each team who performed exceptionally in community service, athletics and academics, are both powerful athletes who lead their teams on and off the field. Sekyere and Awobodu won the USports and OUA community service award earlier this year. Awobodu is also an academic All-Canadian. A full list of winners can be found on the Warriors’ Instagram page, @wloowarriors. 

Ten athletes given the Warriors Shield of Excellence Award

Given to graduating student-athletes who embody the Warrior spirit at all times, this year’s ten recipients, tied for the most in a year, have each left their mark on their sports. When they came to accept their awards, the cheers were nearly deafening as each corner of the room celebrated their graduating players. 

Fehin Awobodu (Men’s Volleyball): Two-time OUA All-Star, academic All-Canadian, and this year’s recipient of the Dale Iwanoczko community service award.

Alex Boden (Men’s Swimming): One U Sports medal, five silver OUA medals, and has medaled at three OUA championships. He also received the OUA Award of Distinction this year. 

Paige Breedon (Cross Country): All-Canadian runner, two-time OUA all-star, and finished fourth at the 2024 U Sports Cross Country Championships

Zachary Burt (Men’s Golf): Finished his last season as a Warrior with the lowest scoring average in program history and won an OUA individual silver medal this year. He’s also won OUA individual gold.

Kevin Espiro (Men’s Soccer): Has scored 24 goals and 34 points in his career, and is a three-time OUA all-star.

Megan Frost (Women’s Swimming): A four-time academic All-Canadian, Frost has also received the OUA award of distinction and has won three medals in her career.

Meagan Hobson (Women’s Field Hockey): The 2025 female athlete of the year winner, Hobson, is a four-time All-Canadian and last year’s U Sports championship MVP.

Tatum James (Women’s Hockey): James set the record for all-time goals scored this season with 47, and is a two-time OUA all-star. 

Matheus Mello (Men’s Soccer): Mello is a three-time OUA all-star and was recognized as OUA West Rookie of the year and a U Sports all-rookie in 2021. 

Carly Orth (Women’s Hockey): Orth is a two-time all-star and was named the 2025 OUA West Player of the Year. She’s scored 83 points in her career.

Cameron Seth and Niki Shemirani of squash take home Totzke and Marsden trophies

The final awards of the night, and the most coveted, went to two squash players who effortlessly ran through their competition. Shemirani took home the Marsden trophy, awarded to the female athlete of the year, after going 6-0 and winning the OUA MVP award. She’s the first squash athlete to win the award in 13 years.

Seth also went undefeated, 5-0, and was named OUA MVP while leading his team to fourth place. He’s the first squash athlete to win the Totzke trophy, awarded to the male athlete of the year, since 2009. They are the first pair of squash players to win the award together. 

Students, staff, and visitors at the University of Waterloo will soon be paying more for parking, as new campus-wide rate increases take effect May 1.

According to the university’s Sustainable Transportation office, updated pricing will apply across visitor parking, permits, and hourly rates, marking another adjustment in the university’s ongoing shift toward funding infrastructure and transportation improvements.

For many campus users, the most noticeable change will be in visitor parking fees. Daily parking in most lots will rise from $7.25 to $10.00, while Lot M will increase from $8.30 to $11.45. Hourly rates will also jump from $3.10 per hour (max $10) to $4.30 per hour (max $13.80) in several central campus locations.

Evening and gated lot pricing is also increasing, with some maximum daily charges climbing as high as $30, depending on the lot.

Permit holders will see smaller, but still notable changes. Monthly employee permits will increase from $54.86 to $56.78 (plus tax), while student parking permits will rise to $225.14 per term (plus tax).

While the increases vary by category, the overall trend is clear, parking on campus is becoming more expensive across the board.

The university frames the changes as part of a broader strategy to improve campus transportation. Previous fee increases were tied to investments in infrastructure such as resurfacing lots, upgrading lighting, expanding bike storage, and supporting alternative transportation options like transit and cycling.

Parking Services, now rebranded as Sustainable Transportation, has emphasized that these changes are necessary to maintain aging infrastructure and better manage how thousands of people move to and from campus each day.

Still, the increases may be felt most by students who rely on driving. With limited parking availability and already competitive permit systems, higher prices could add to the financial strain of commuting, especially for those living off campus.

The UW Accounting and Finance Student Association (AFSA) tax clinic, which assists community members in filing tax returns, said they had a successful run doing so this year, processing nearly 900 tax returns for 708 distinct individuals this season.

Although this number is lower compared to the clinic’s all-time peak, the organizers are glad that this may indicate improvement in accessible tax services. “The tax clinic’s ultimate goal is to provide assistance to people who need it,” said Ben Ma, clinic coordinator. “If fewer people require our services, perhaps that means that tax services overall are now more accessible to everyone.”

This year’s clinic lasted two weeks from March 21 to 29.

There were a lot of internal changes implemented in the 2026 AFSA tax clinic. They shifted from paper-based tracking and physical receipts to a completely new digital management system as a part of an upgrade of its operations. This change has brought positive environmental impacts by reducing paper, enabling a trial program for scheduling appointments, and monitoring data to inform future developments. 

Despite the smooth operation, the  usual challenge of predicting the arrivals of clients remained. The clinic was overcrowded in the first few days of opening, and then a massive rush occurred in the final hours. Ma recalled, “About 200-300 clients arrived 2-3 hours before we closed for the season. Unfortunately, at that sudden volume, we couldn’t assist all visitors in a timely manner.” It is a pattern that the clinic hopes to break, and they emphasized that the tax clinic is pleased to assist on all operating days, not just the final one. 

The AFSA tax clinic wishes students to understand the long-term benefits of filing taxes annually beyond the immediate help they provide. By doing this, students are eligible to apply for low-income benefits up to $1,500 per year, earn tuition tax credits for future usage, and qualify for the Ontario Electricity Support Program, which may lower a hydro bill to $0.

The campus tax clinic will reopen in March 2027. In the meantime, students with questions about filing taxes are welcome to visit the clinic’s post-filing FAQ at taxclinic.uwaterloo.ca/PostFiling.html.