This article is the fifth of an eight-part series. To read more about what The Ubyssey’s Sports Awards are, check out the first award here.
Being a first-year student is often difficult. Navigating university without any prior experience can be disorienting — having to figure out academics, clubs, friends, residence — it’s a lot. To not only manage that change, but also excel athletically, is a major feat. This is especially true in university sport, where playing time for first-year players is often extremely limited, and it’s why Rookie of the Year is an impressive award to win. It’s both an acknowledgment of an incredible year and a sign of a promising future.
As a refresher, each one of our beat writers from the sports team nominated one athlete for this category, then, after discussion among us, we voted for the winner. Reporters could not vote for their own nomination, and in the case of a tie, Caleb Peterson, the Sports & Recreation Editor, would cast the deciding vote. This was our voting committee:
- Luiza Teixeira: Women’s Hockey Reporter
- Maia Cesario: Women’s Soccer Reporter + Women’s Basketball Reporter
- Ian Cooper: Men’s Basketball Reporter
- Sofia Campanholo: Women’s Volleyball Reporter + Men’s Soccer Reporter
- Annaliese Gumboc: Football Reporter
- Caleb Peterson: Sports & Recreation Editor + Men’s Hockey Reporter
And here was our discussion.
Nominations:
(Caleb Peterson | Men’s Hockey): For Men's Hockey, I am going to nominate first year forward Reilley Kotai. Kotai had a very good year, coming through in some clutch moments for the team with some depth scoring. There’s not a lot of options here — Jace Weir on defence would be the other potential nominee — but I'm going to go with Kotai.
Kotai stood out in a group of offensive forwards that was very senior-heavy. Despite all that experience in the lineup, Kotai was still getting good minutes and producing alongside all of them. With a lot of players leaving this off-season, he'll be somebody they'll need to step up next year. Getting very positive signs from Kotai early on.
(Sofia Campanholo | Women’s Volleyball): Okay, for women's volleyball, I went with Sol Henson. Coach Doug Reimer, he doesn’t like to put freshmen in most of the team’s games — he usually waits for them to get more experience before putting them in for important games — but out of all of the rookies, Henson is the player that he put into the game the most.
She's a very good outside hitter, and while she still has to get to the point where she's as good as the other hitters on the team — just because the team's very good — it's clear that Reimer has a lot of faith in her.
(Ian Cooper | Men’s Basketball): My pick is Edouard Gauthier. He came off the bench all year, being fourth on the team in scoring and second in assists. He also averaged about one steal per game. But honestly, his impact can’t really be measured through the box score alone.
It was more that he played with a lot of energy, bringing a different look to the team with his length at the point guard position. He was a really good cutter, a really good slasher and finisher. He was really efficient in the minutes that he played, and made a big affect the team.
(Annaliese Gumboc | Football): I had trouble picking this one — because we did have some promising people on defence — but in terms of someone who is technically a rookie who had the biggest affect the team, I'd say Drew Viotto. He had some trouble settling into the starting quarterback position at the beginning of the year, but by the end of the season, the passing game, led by him, was really carrying the team. Even without a run game, they were still being pretty successful in the air. That's because of his arm.
In his last three regular season games, he averaged 400 passing yards a game with a 63 per cent completion rate, which is absolutely crazy. Despite sharing snaps with Derek Engel, by the end of the year, he was ranked second in passing touchdowns in the conference and second in passing yards per game. That's pretty impressive for a rookie, well, technically a rookie.
(Maia Cesario | Women’s Soccer): I'm going to nominate Sophie Harrison with Women's Soccer. In her first year, she started all 14 regular season games and had to step into a really big position as one of UBC's fullbacks this year. She really met the challenge. She was the Canada West rookie of the year because of her defensive prowess, which, even for a defensive player — it’s pretty impressive to stand out in this way.
By the end of the season, she was also making an impact offensively. She had the last goal of the season in the gold medal game against Montreal. She even had four assists in the season as well. Yet, mostly she just made a large affect defence for UBC. They had no goals against in their regular season and she was a big part of that.
(Luiza Teixeira | Women’s Hockey): For women's hockey I'm nominating Ilona Markova. She came in halfway through the season, not joining the team until January. In her first couple games, she was still getting used to the Canada West rhythm, but especially after Vanessa Schaefer left for the Olympics, she really got some good ice time and she's been flourishing ever since.
She had 11 points on the season, despite only playing like 17 games. Especially in the playoffs and now at nationals, she has been super important for UBC. Most recently, in the consolation final, the last game of the season, she had two assists and two goals — one of the best players of that match. She plays with a lot of energy. She's always pursuing the puck. She's tiny, but she's not afraid to go up against players that are bigger and more experienced than her.
Verdict:
This was probably a three-horse race between Harrison, Viotto and Markova, who all got votes, but in the end, it was Sophie Harrison who took home the award. Here are the voting results:
- Women’s Soccer: Sophie Harrison – 3
- Football: Drew Viotto – 1
- Women’s Hockey: Ilona Markova – 1
- Men’s Hockey: Reilley Kotai – 1
- Women’s Volleyball: Sol Henson – 0
- Men’s Basketball: Edouard Gauthier – 0
(Caleb Peterson | Sports + Rec Editor): Harrison stands alone here as the most impressive rookie this year. There’s a reason she got the nod from Canada West for their rookie of the year award — she was truly spectacular, fitting seamlessly into a unit that was not only the best in the country, but historically great. They didn’t allow any goals in the regular season, and Harrison is a big reason why.
With star players like Sarah Rollins, Olivia Gomez and Jacqueline Tyrer leaving the team over the off-season, it seemed like Women’s Soccer would have cause for concern on their backline. Four of the six defenders that dressed for the national championship in 2024 were unavailable in 2025. Yet, despite those losses, the team’s defence didn’t just keep up their high level of play — they got better. Some of that excellence came from returning players like Ella Sunde and Zoelle Apps, but they couldn’t have done it without Harrison.
While some of the other nominees here had strong cases — both Viotto and Markova put up strong numbers throughout the year — there are a couple asterisks for both of their candidacies. Both are rookies in the sense that this is their first year with the team, but they’ve both had significant experience elsewhere. Viotto bounced around the NCAA in backup roles for a few years before landing in Vancouver. Markova played professionally in Russia, even being drafted into the PWHL in 2024. They both excelled in their first year at UBC, but they had a bit of a runway.
There’s also a bit less consistency with Markova and Viotto. Viotto didn’t really catch on as the team’s starter until halfway through the season, while Markova didn’t even join the team until January. All three should be players to watch throughout the remainder of their time at UBC, but Harrison best fits the definition of Rookie of the Year.
