Adams wins AUS community service award; Deng and three Axewomen named all-stars

WOLFVILLE, N.S. — Acadia fifth-year defender Leah Adams has been named the AUS student-athlete community service award winner, recognizing her leadership on campus and impact in the Wolfville community.

Adams started and played 90 minutes in all 12 matches this season and was player of the game in a 4–0 win over Moncton on Sept. 12, scoring twice. She was also voted an AUS first team all-star, her third straight all-star selection after second-team honours in 2023 and 2024.

Off the field, Adams is a five-time U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian. She completed a Bachelor of Kinesiology and a Bachelor of Education and is currently taking graduate courses. Her service includes extensive work with KinderSkills, AWAKE and S.M.I.L.E., where she mentors children and youth of all abilities through inclusive physical activity and sport. She has coached multiple community teams, supported adaptive sport programming and helped organize major fundraisers—most notably a Soccer Baseball Tournament that raised $4,800 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

“Of the over 2,000 students I have taught and hundreds of athletes I have coached over the past 23 years, Leah is without question the most extraordinary, kind, giving, modest, and well-rounded student I have ever taught or coached,” said long-time women’s soccer assistant coach and Acadia Kinesiology professor Scott Landry.

With the AUS honour, Adams advances as the conference nominee for the U SPORTS national community service award.

Acadia earned additional AUS recognition on the pitch:
Women’s First Team All-Star: Leah Adams (Defender)
Women’s Second Team All-Star: Taylor Kay (Midfielder)
Women’s All-Rookie Team: Hannah Richardson-McKinnon
Men’s First Team All-Star: Jabu Deng (Defender)

Next up: The Axewomen play Memorial in the AUS championship quarterfinal on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Cape Breton.