One Swift Current teen received both provincial and national honours for his hard work and dedication as both a coach and a cadet.

Theodore Lautsch was awarded the Special Olympics Junior Coach of the Year for 2018/2019 for Saskatchewan and also won the Navy League of Canada National Sea Cadet of the Year.

Lautsch said to receive both of the awards is a huge honour.

"Being named a coach of the year provincially, especially with me being under the age of 21, is quite an hour to be named something as prestigious as this," he said. "Being named the national sea cadet of the year means so much more to me. Knowing that I have been able to not only receive all the training but to be able to give back and mentor the next generation of cadets, that gives me a sense of relief that the cadet program is going in a good direction."

Lautsch was the assistant coach for the Bocce Ball and Curling Special Olympic teams in Swift Current.

"I helped the head coach with practices and doing warm-ups and cools down. Then during practices as well, I was out there with half of the athletes and helped them develop their skills as curlers and bocce ballplayers."

Meanwhile, with the cadets, Lautsch was in a leadership role as he was a senior cadet.

"I was in charge of the cadet core in Swift Current, so about 20 other cadets were under my care," he said. "I had to make sure that there training was going smoothly and that they were learning everything and that all the other instructors had the skills that they need to be effective leaders for then."

Lautsch said that the biggest thing that the learned from being a coach and a leader in the cadet program was not to take everything seriously and have fun.

"There are times that you need to buckle down and get things done, but there are lots of times that you can have fun and just be more laid back," he said. "One thing that I've always said about being in these leadership roles is hard work and dedication pay off in the end, and if you put in the time and effort, you should be rewarded."

Lautsch said that the moments he learned about winning both awards were emotional.

"Once I found out that I was receiving that national cadet of the year award, I almost broke down," he said. "I was so excited. I could feel the tears and just the emotions running over me, but I kept my composure on parade. The same thing with the junior coach of the year, I didn't think that I could achieve that at such a young age."

Lautsch was recognized by the City of Swift Current at the last city council meeting.