Dunrobin’s Lemmex vying for Sports Illustrated Youth Athlete of the Year

DUNROBIN – A young Dunrobin snowboard cross champion is in the running to become a Sports Illustrated (SI) Youth Athlete of the Year.

Lemmex, 15, is a two time snowboard junior national champion winning in 2025 and 2023. In 2024 she came second. She is also a provincial champion and has a long list of accomplishments including being nominated for the 2024 Quebec Snowboard Female Snowboard Cross Athlete of the Year; earned a second place in the novice 2024 BMX Canada National Race; and a second place in a 2024 Ontario BMX Canada Ontario Provincial Championship. She has been a member of the Ontario high performance team since 2023.

Caily was adopted from an orphanage in Vietnam at a very young age before coming to Dunrobin to live with her mom Joanne Lemmex.

“While her exploits are impressive, what is most exceptional about her story is the incredible support she has received from our community,” Joanne told West Carleton Online last March. “She would not be able to race at this level without financial assistance and amateur athletes have no access to funding. Sport funding at the provincial/federal level is targeted to athletes who make Team Canada. Becoming a Team Canada snowboard athlete is a challenge. Caily will need to acquire more FIS points than other Canadian athletes and she doesn’t qualify to race FIS until next season. The cost of her equipment, training, coaching, travel to races and race fees is about $30,000 per year. I have managed to cover this in the past but the last two years have been tough.”

Joanne is a consultant with the government, and because of that employment has been intermittent the last couple of years. Part of the reason, Caily applied to and is making a bid to be the SI Youth Athlete of the Year.

The SI Youth Athlete of the Year competition could provide Caily with much needed funding to help her pursue her goal of becoming a professional snowboard cross athlete.

“We’re searching for an exceptional young athlete who represents everything we love about sports: a dedication to greatness, fierce competition, and a commitment to their teammates and competitors alike,” SI released in a statement. “The champion will appear in a 3BRAND advertisement in Sports Illustrated and receive $25,000 to set them up for a bright future.”

The competition is a fan vote, so every vote counts.

Caily just made it through Round 1 as the top ranked athlete in her group of young athletes vying for Athlete of the Year in the American run contest.

“Winning this is a long shot,” Caily told West Carleton Online Friday (Aug. 8). “I’m competing against hundreds of thousands of kids in the U.S. and Canada, in sports way more popular than snowboard cross and BMX. But it doesn’t hurt to try.  #Cailysvillage has really rallied in this first round.  Who knows how many new villagers I’ll get thanks to this campaign.”

While voters can purchase votes in chunks, voting once does not cost a thing.

“I’m not expecting anyone to pay for votes,” Caily said. “They can vote for free. But maybe if more people know about me, it will be easier to fundraise.” 

The grand prize of $25,000 will help Caily continue in the sports she loves.

“$25,000 USD would pay for all my training and races this season which will be more expensive because I’ll be competing in British Colombia and the U.S. this year,” she said. “And, hopefully the World Juniors in April. It would also take a lot of pressure off my mom who needs a break right now. Getting a Canadian snowboarder and BMXer into Sports Illustrated would be incredible for the country, the sport and hopefully inspire more girls to try snowboarding and BMXing.  For some reason I don’t see a lot of girls in either of these sports. I don’t know why.” 

Along with $25,000, the winner gets a spread in Sports Illustrated.

Voting this week is especially helpful for Caily as by the end of the week organizers will drop the bottom five out of each group. The following week another five. Then they will put all the top group candidates into quarter and semi finals. 

“It’s a long process, but very exciting,” Caily said.

IF you would like to help Caily reach her goal, you can vote for her in the SI Youth Athlete of the Year competition by clicking here.