Saskatchewan Games Awards

Joe Griffith Trophy

The Joe Griffith Trophy is awarded to the District team showing the most improvement in their final standings from the previous Saskatchewan Games. Comparison is made on a winter to winter and summer to summer basis.

Joe Griffith was born in Wales in 1885 and immigrated to Canada at the age of 18. Following the First World War, he became the entire Department of Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan. It was over the next 32 years, while at the University, that E.W. "Joe" Griffith had his greatest impact upon athletics. He excelled as a coach and became the Canadian Olympic team coach in two separate Olympics. E.W. "Joe" Griffith has earned many honours. He was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame on May 22, 1967. With great respect, this Games award is named to honour him.

The Joe Griffith Award was designed and created by Douglas Bentham, one of Canada's most promising sculptors. Mr. Bentham was born in Rosetown in 1947. He graduated with an advanced degree in Fine Arts from the University of Saskatchewan in 1968. He has completed a number of public commissions including a major outdoor sculpture at the National Science Library in Ottawa. Mr. Bentham lives a few miles south of Saskatoon and makes sculpture a full-time occupation.

Team South East was awarded the Joe Griffith Award at the 2023 Saskatchewan Winter Games in Regina.

For past Joe Griffith results click here.

Lorne Lasuita Saskatchewan Games Athletic Award

The Lorne Lasuita Saskatchewan Games Athletic Award is presented following each Saskatchewan Summer and Winter Games to one male and one female athlete who best combine competitive performance, strong leadership skills, good sporting conduct, and a spirit of fair play, cooperation, and friendship. The Award provides an athletic bursary intended to assist the recipients with their ongoing participation in sport.

The Award was established in 2019 to recognize the valuable contributions Lasuita has made to the Saskatchewan Games program. Throughout his impactful 50-plus year career in sport and recreation, Lorne has played a key role in more than 50 multi-sport games -- including the Saskatchewan Games, the Canada Games, and the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. As Provincial Games Consultant until his retirement in 2019, Lasuita played an instrumental role in building the Saskatchewan Games program into what it is today, having been a part of every edition of the biennial Saskatchewan Games from 1974 through 2023 – only missing the first-ever Games in 1972. Lasuita was recently inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, earning a spot as a Builder in the Class of 2023. 

The recipients of the 2023 Lorne Lasuita Saskatchewan Games Athletic Award were Leo Emond of Team North and Aya Burrell of Team Parkland Valley. Read more here. 

The Games Flag

The Games Flag is a prize given to the District who earns the most flag points at a Games. The amount of flag points a District team collects is determined based on the scoring system.

The scoring system works as follows: nine flag points are awarded to the athlete or team that wins first place; eight flag points go to second place; seven flag points go to third place, and so on. The amount of flag points an athlete or team earns decreases the further they finish away from first place.

At the end of the Games, all flag points for each District team are tallied to give every District a final flag point score. The District team that scores the most flag points wins the prestigious Games Flag.