Lois and Doug Mitchell U Sports Athletes of the Year Awards

The awards were founded in 1993 by Douglas Mitchell who wanted to provide more recognition for Canadian university athletes. They were initially named after Mitchell's law firm Howard, Mackie in Calgary, Alberta. After a merger of law firms in 2000, the awards were renamed the BLG Awards after the new law firm Borden Ladner Gervais. The women's winner was awarded the Jim Thompson Trophy as of 2003 and the men's winner was awarded the Doug Mitchell Trophy as of 2009. The annual awards live presentation featured the eight nominated athletes, live entertainment from notable canadian singers such as Nikki Yanofsky, Jordan McIntosh, Charlie Major, Gerry Dee (Mr.D.) to name but a few, and took place at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in front of an audience of peers, prominent political figures and business people. The event was recorded for broadcast on The Sports Network (TSN), one of Canada's major sports television networks. White Iron produced the original event from 1993 until 2001. Paul J. Toth assumed the duties of Producer and Lead Creative from 2008 until 2017, which he oversaw the transition from TSN to Sportsnet in 2012 until 2017 when it was no longer broadcast. The BLG Awards event weekend was generally held in Calgary with the exception of 2009 & 2013 when it was held in Toronto and 2011 when the event was held in Vancouver. == List of past winners ==