Oakville, Ontario, golfer Natasha Stasiuk is the 8th annual Jeffrey Reed Courage Award winner.
Est. 2015, LondonOntarioSports.com is published and edited by award-winning journalist Jeffrey Reed, a senior member of the London sports media with roots dating back to 1980. A disabled athlete living with numerous physical challenges since birth, Reed defied the odds as a coach and pitcher with the London Majors Baseball Club of the semi-professional Intercounty Baseball League. He later represented Wilson Golf as a long-time Staff Advisory member with the Wilson Staff brand.
In 2016, Reed, along with his wife, Elizabeth, established the Jeffrey Reed Courage Award, which uses Jeffrey’s incredible story to inspire countless other athletes across Southern Ontario to do the same. Presented by LondonOntarioSports.com, the Courage Award, during its first eight years, has honoured members of the Western Mustangs, Fanshawe Falcons, FC London Soccer Club, Lucan Irish Jr. C Hockey Club, the Canadian outdoors community, internationally-recognized paralympic athletes and Special Olympics athletes. Over eight years, almost 400 area athletes have been considered for the award.
Athletes of all ages and abilities each year have nominated themselves with an essay about their amazing journeys on and off the playing field. Winners receive $1,000, a commemorative plaque, an award ceremony, plus – most importantly – a platform for inspiring others.
Stasiuk, 24, was born in Russia, where she was left as an orphan in a run-down hospital. Sick and often unattended, she was slow to develop learning and language skills. Peter and Sandra Stasiuk adopted Natasha as an infant and brought her home to Canada, where soon afterwards, she displayed above-average hand-eye coordination. Still, communicating, making friends, and learning remained difficult for Stasiuk, who was often wrongly judged as shy, angry and frustrated by some of her teachers, her hockey, soccer and softball teammates, and her golf partners during junior tournaments.
In fact, it wasn’t until October 2021 that Stasiuk was diagnosed correctly as living with autism. This life-long neurodevelopmental disorder affects how a person communicates and relates to people and the world around them. It can affect body language and posture, social interactions and relationships, how you engage with your interests, and sensory processing capacities.
“My disabilities are invisible to many people,” explained Stasiuk, a member of ClubLink’s Heron Point Golf Links near Ancaster, Ontario. “Communicating, making friends and finding playing partners are difficult for me. I have an intellectual difference. But instead of seeing what people can’t do, we should all see what they can do!”
A talented golfer carrying a 4.0 handicap index, Stasiuk has found what she calls her “happy place” on the golf course. She has won all four of Golf Ontario’s Ontario Disability Women’s Championship tournaments 2019-22 and Canada’s Canadian All Abilities Women’s Championship tournaments 2021-22. In 2022, as the only Canadian female golfer competing at USGA’s inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6, Stasiuk finished fifth despite competing in an unfamiliar setting where much media attention saw her uncomfortable on and off the golf course.
Still, the golf course is Stasiuk’s “happy place,” said Sandra. “Her dream was to play on the LPGA Tour. But now, she is much more aware of what she is capable of doing, despite her disabilities. She realizes now it doesn’t mean she can’t take golf as far as she is capable of doing.”
In June, Stasiuk will travel with her teammates to Berlin, Germany, to compete for Team Canada at the Special Olympics World Games. In total, 7,000 athletes from 170 countries will compete. She’s studying in the Developmental Services Worker diploma program at Toronto’s Humber College while working towards a career in Disability Social Work. And she works part-time at Golf Town in Mississauga.
“Natasha has won the hearts of the Canadian golf community, thanks to her hard work and determination, her achievements – despite her disabilities – and her affectious personality,” said Jeffrey Reed. “She personifies the five pillars of the Courage Award: Dream Big & Never Stop Dreaming; Work With Mentors & Mentor Others; Learn From Failure; Give 100% At All Times; and Never Quit. Elizabeth and I are thrilled to honour Natasha with the 2023 Courage Award.”
Said Stasiuk, “I am very happy to win the Courage Award. Jeffrey’s story is inspirational to me. What I have learned is that no matter what the circumstances in life, there is always hope!”