Tonight, Andrew Buckley will be honoured at the Calgary Booster Club’s Sportsman of the Year dinner as the 2015 Calgary male athlete of the year. This is the second year in a row that the former Dinos quarterback has been vote the Scott-Mamini Memorial trophy winner by the local sports media.

“I see some of the names that are on there once and even twice and those are athletes that I’ve looked up to,” says Buckley. “So to be on there twice as a university quarterback is kind of a dream come true for me.”

Past recipients consist of 13 former Stampeders including two-time winner Jon Cornish and quarterbacks Henry Burris and Jeff Garcia.

Another notable former recipient is Buckley’s current head coach and ex-Stampeder pivot Dave Dickenson, who won the award in 2001. Coach Dickenson will be a guest speaker at tonight’s dinner.

“Guys like Dickenson and Jeff Garcia, it’s a pretty esteemed class to have my name beside on there,” says Buckley. “It truly is an honour.”

The fifth-year Dino quarterback’s on-field accomplishments are well documented. He led his team to a perfect 8-0 record as they held the top national ranking for eight straight weeks. His 3,162 passing yards set a CIS single-season record and he chalked up a 72-per cent completion record while tossing 19 touchdowns and only one interception.

For his efforts, he earned the Hec Crighton Trophy as the most outstanding player in CIS football for the second consecutive year.

Off the field, the kinesiology major keeps himself busy with school and volunteer work with Alzheimer’s patients and at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

“I’ve been working my hardest to keep my grades up just in the hopes of applying to med school at some point,” says the Calgary native. “It’s kind of been my dream to be a doctor for a while.”

But his plans for med school will be put on the back-burner while he continues to pursue his football dreams in his hometown. He’ll hit the turf in the familiar confines of McMahon Stadium when training camp opens at the end of May, trying to earn a spot on the 2016 Stampeders roster.

The born-and-raised Calgarian won a pair of provincial 3A titles at Rundle College before starring with the Dinos. He was drafted by the Stamps last spring and attended training camp before heading back to U of C for his final year of eligibility. To have a chance to continue his football career in his own backyard is a fitting storyline and he’ll have friends, family and the whole city of Calgary rooting for him.

But tonight, he’ll just be savouring the moment.

“It’s extra special,” admits Buckley. “To be able to represent the city of Calgary and just kind of be appreciated by the city I grew up in is an awesome feeling. My whole family, they are super proud and I’m glad I could make them proud.”

Buckley’s 2015 achievements

Calgary Booster Club Scholar-Athlete award
Canada West All-Star
Canada West MVP
BLG Award Finalist
CIS First team All-Canadian
Hec Crighton Award
CIS Top Eight Academic All-Canadians
University of Calgary male athlete of the year
Calgary Booster Club’s male athlete of the year