It has been a banner year for the Redeemer Royals and for badminton player Owen Kurvits. On Wednesday night, at the CCAA National Badminton Championship Awards Banquet in Toronto, Redeemer's star capped off his badminton career with one more honour. A first for a Redeemer athlete, Kurvits was named the National Player of the Year. 

The award came on the eve of the National Championships where Owen will be competing for his fourth straight year. The Championships get underway at Seneca College on Thursday morning and runs through till Saturday's medal rounds. 

Kurvits will be looking for his 3rd National CCAA medal of his career as he returns to the Championships as a favorite to reach the podium and one of the front-runners to win it all. Kurvits had another incredible season, being named OCAA Player of the Year, a CCAA All-Canadian, and an OCAA Champion. 

Kurvits was excited with the award and a little speechless commenting, "I am having a tough time putting it into words. I am happy to bring it home to Redeemer in my final year. I feel like I have put in the work and it's amazing to see the results. There is still work to do though, I still have a job to do. The focus is still on winning a National medal this weekend."

When asked what he thinks it mean's to Redeemer, Owen focused on the future. "It's another step forward for Redeemer. It's been a great year for all the programs. We are such a small school but have seen incredible results across all sports. I hope this is the direction we continue to go in". 

For Kurvits this is his last Championship and possibly his last competitive tournament at this level ever. "I want to soak it all in", said Kurvits. "I obviously want to win but I want to make sure that I remember this weekend and take it all in". 

You can follow Owen at the National Championship on the CCAA website here.