Aliyah Fraser wins top award

New Glasgow’s Aliyah Fraser who plays basketball for St. Francis Xavier University earned the Sylvia Sweeney Award for Student-Athlete Community Service March 8 at the All-Canadian awards banquet held in Sydney.

Fraser finished the 2022-23 regular season averaging 12.3 points per game, a 75.4 freethrow percentage and a 40.2 three-point percentage. The five-foot-ten guard was also named U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian for the 2021-22 season.

Off the court, Fraser continues to make an impact on the New Glasgow and STFX communities.

She serves as the diversity rep on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, volunteers with STFX's BLACC Society and is the student-athlete representative on the St. Francis Xavier University Racial Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Most notably, Fraser founded the STFX BIPOC Varsity Association, which aims to collect crucial data on the experiences of BIPOC student-athletes to address their needs better.

Last summer, she organized the first Up&Atom Sports and Science Camp in New Glasgow with a vision to bring the joy of sport and the wonders of science to the youth of her hometown. Fraser welcomed over 50 participants at no cost to the two-day camp and plans to continue this initiative in the coming years.

"Aliyah has been the face of X-Women Basketball for the past four years. In addition to excelling on the court, she has also been a stalwart in the classroom and in the community," says STFX head coach Matt Spencer.

"I have been tremendously fortunate to have inherited such a standout studentathlete in my first year as XWomen head coach."

Fraser is the first X-Woman to take home this honour.