Fredericton's Hallihan Wins U SPORTS Sgambati Award
(TORONTO, ON) U SPORTS has named Fredericton journalist Bruce Hallihan, of the Daily Gleaner newspaper, as the winner of the 2020 Fred Sgambati Media Award.
Hallihan, a sports reporter for over 30 years in New Brunswick, has spent most of his career covering university sport in Atlantic Canada, and is a frequent visitor to Reds events and facilities.
He began covering university sports in the fall of 1988, when he joined the Daily Gleaner.
He works painstakingly to provide accurate and fair coverage of the UNB Reds, the St. Thomas Tommies, and their opponents.
Hallihan, well respected in all corners of Atlantic University Sport for his unbiased and comprehensive coverage, is best known for his annual AUS men’s hockey conference preview. He devotes countless hours to preparing this highly-anticipated piece, which has become a must-read for fans, players, coaches, Athletic Directors, and other media, during its 28-year run. Some in Atlantic Canada, fans and coaches alike, refer to it as the conference bible.
A former voting member of the U SPORTS men’s hockey Top 10 media panel, Hallihan is universally respected by coaches and student-athletes. He often goes beyond what the spectators might see on the field of play, writing human interest stories that offer personal insight into the training and trials of student-athletes on the Fredericton campuses and beyond.
“Bruce has been a man who’s set the standard for university sports coverage in Atlantic Canada for more than 30 years,” said Hallihan’s Daily Gleaner colleague Bill Hunt. “While his men’s hockey preview is his signature piece, he brings that standard to everything he covers. Coaches and athletes trust him with their stories, and he never lets them down. He’s a good reporter, a good editor, and an even better man.”
The Sgambati Award was first presented in 1972. Hallihan is just the sixth journalist from Atlantic Canada to win the award, the first since 2011.
“Bruce’s reporting has helped establish a vast profile for university athletics in Fredericton and the region,” said Reds Communications Manager Andy Campbell. “Without question, his work has elevated interest in university sport to an exceptional level.”
The presentation of the Sgambati Award comes as part of the 2020 U SPORTS Honours Awards, which also recognized long-time coach Dave Smart, of Carleton University, who received the Jean-Marie De Koninck Coaching Excellence Award, Dalhousie University coach Pat Nearing, honoured with the Austin-Matthews Award for outstanding contribution to university sport in Canada, and Paralympian swimmer Elisabeth Walker-Young, from Brock University, who was given the L.B. Pearson Award for outstanding achievement in and out of university sport.
All winners will receive a commemorative ring from Baron, the exclusive provider of championship rings and recognition jewelry for U SPORTS.