The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) has named a Cambridge athlete playing for Conestoga College as the top male athlete of the year after a successful campaign with the college.
Over the past year, fifth-year defender Malachi Ramsay earned two OCAA all-star selections, the OCAA championship MVP, recognition as a Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association (CCAA) championship all-star, and the honour of being named an OCAA first team all-star.
This is the first athlete from Conestoga College to ever be named OCAA Athlete of the Year.
"Mal is a great leader and has been since day one. When we took over the program, he was an easy choice for captain … he led by example on and off the field,” said coach Stuart Mackie in a press release. “He’s been the perfect representation of the program and the school, and the athletic department as well.”
Ramsay was also honoured recently as Conestoga's Athlete of the Year as well as Athlete of Distinction. He was also recognized for his academic achievements with OCAA all-academic and CCAA academic all-Canadian awards.
The defender previously played for Cambridge United and entered Conestoga unrecruited as a walk-on player in 2019.
Ramsay started all 10 regular season matches for the Condors men's soccer outdoor program, leading Conestoga to win the west division with a perfect 10-0 record.
The Condors would continue to go undefeated in in the OCAA post-season, earning the gold medal against the four-time reigning champion Humber Hawks. The win marked the team’s first OCAA title since 1979.
The college noted that Ramsay scored timely goals throughout the season, including the opening goal in the seventeenth minute of the OCAA finals.
He also scored a decisive penalty kick in extra time that propelled the Condors into the CCAA national championship final where they earned a CCAA silver medal—the first national medal for the men’s soccer program.
“We knew we had something special with Malachi. He was identified within the league as one of the best players,” added Mackie. “To go from where he came from - as a walk on (who was not recruited) to this award - that’s quite the underdog story.”
