After earning a national award from his peers for his coverage of McMaster sports, Fraser Caldwell can't ask for more from a career in student journalism.

Caldwell, who began covering varsity volleyball for the student-run newspaper The Silhouette two years ago, was given the John H. MacDonald Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism at this year's Canadian University Press national conference.

It was the first time the award was given to a writer from The Silhouette, which began publishing in 1930.

"It's nice to get the recognition for the sports section as a whole," said Caldwell. "It's really a testament to what happened to the sports section when Brian Decker took over [as editor]."

Caldwell learned about winning the award by phone while covering a volleyball game at the Burridge Gym.
"I could hardly hear my assistant editor telling me I had won," he said. "It took me a few minutes to realize what he was saying."

Caldwell said the Marauders football team winning the Vanier Cup was a particular highlight of the last year in sports.
"It was a perfect storm," he said. "This campus has never experienced an event like that before."

While Caldwell enjoys the athletic side of sports, he said telling the "behind-the-scenes" stories is an important part of what he does.

"Readers don't always give athletes their due, and they sometimes don't realize what goes into being a student-athlete," he said. "I like to tell those stories that give people some perspective on what being involved in athletics really means."

Follow Fraser Caldwell on twitter: @fraser_caldwell