Ten Okanagan athletes are closer to achieving their sporting goals today after receiving bursaries from the Supporting the Dream Legacy Fund.
This is the fourth year that the fund, created and administered by two-time Olympic mogul skier and Summerland-native Kristi Richards, has awarded grants to amateur athletes. Each athlete will receive $1,000 – a record for the Fund.
“We were able to distribute $10,000 this year thanks to a very successful ‘To Russia with Love’ fundraising event last fall hosted by the Local Lounge and Grille,” said Richards.
Recipients of this year’s grants include three athletes who are following in Richards’ freestyle skiing footsteps: mogul specialist Andi Naude (Okanagan Falls) who took first place in this year’s Canada Winter Games; mogul specialist Connor Spence (Penticton) who earned the silver medal at the Canada Post Junior Nationals this year; and, halfpipe specialist Hunter Visser (Penticton) who is the current Junior National Champion. Naude and Spence have also been accepted to the Whistler Mogul Academy, an elite national Canadian Freestyle Ski Association program for emerging talent.
“I’m super excited to receive this grant from Kristi,” said Naude, “I’m going to use it to buy some gear, like a dry suit for water ramping and some new skis. It will definitely help me do what I love.”
Richards and her panel of evaluators also awarded grants to: rhythmic gymnast Kelsey Anderson (Vernon); track athlete Malindi Elmore (Kelowna); speed skaters Alison Banwell (Kelowna) and Nick Goplen (Kelowna); cross counters skiers Alysson Marshall (Enderby), Adrienne Underhill (Salmon Arm) and Heather Mehain (Vernon).
The bursary recipients will use their scholarship funds to help offset the high cost of pursuing athletic excellence. “If it wasn’t for the outpouring of community support that I received as a young athlete there is no way I could have reached my goals, that’s why I’m so motivated to give back.”
Source: CFSA
