Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, Vancouver
- Thank you, Jayne. Good morning, everybody!
- So happy to see so many people here to help celebrate the academic achievements of our Thunderbird varsity student athletes.
- These students are indeed special. To be honoured, they must have an average of 80% or higher in the 2017/18 academic year and have participated in their sport. Balancing academics and athletics and excelling at both takes dedication and character just as much as it takes talent.
- This past year was indeed a great year academically and athletically for our Thunderbird athletes.
- The highlights include 9 championship wins including Men’s Track and Field and Women’s Field Hockey – who won their 19th championship in their history and their seventh in a row
- Thunderbird student athletes and coaches represented Canada at the Commonwealth games in Swimming and Basketball, winning some serious hardware
- For example, Silver for Men’s Basketball, led by UBC Thunderbirds coach Kevin Hanson
- One in four UBC student athletes are Academic All Canadians
- On average, our Academic All Canadian student athletes take 25.0 credits a year on top of a rigorous training and competition schedule averaging 20 hours a week
- Some student athletes have upwards of 41.0 credits through their programs!
- We are lucky to have so many student athletes who are such well-rounded individuals. Athletes such as
- Laura Worsley (Women’s Volleyball, Arts), who achieved Straight A’s despite a devastating knee injury last year during the season that required multiple surgeries and many hours of rehab. Not only that, she volunteers her time coordinating and running high school volleyball tournaments as well as coaching and mentoring the next generation of volleyball players
- Kaileigh Chow (Women’s Field Hockey, Science). Last year she took 30 credits, maintained a 93% average , and was part of the women’s field hockey team that won nationals last fall capturing their 19th National Championship.
- In her second year, she is already a research assistant for UBC’s Social Identity Lab led by Dr. Toni Schmader that examines how people are affected by social identities and the stereotypes attached to them.
- Eric Pollard (Men’s Track and Field, Arts). Eric is involved in UBC’s Varsity Outdoor Club and made the trek with a small team of VOC members to build a replacement Brew Hut in the Sea to Sky Backcountry used by hundred of backcountry hikers every year.
- He is passing on his academic expertise to current student athletes as a Thunderstudy tutor, overseeing 10 academic tutors. Thunderstudy is an academic support program that runs three nights a week and provides a valuable space for student athletes to get free first year tutoring as well as a guaranteed study space with their peers.
- Clint Lemkus (Men’s Rugby, Masters of Kinesiology). In his spare time, Chris helps out at local high schools coaching players as well as working at the local rugby referee society
- Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson (Women’s Swimming, Arts). She maintained Academic All Canadian status while competing in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Queensland, Australia, earning a bronze medal in the 200 meter individual medley. Erika is also co-lead of the Student Athlete Mental Health Initiative for the UBC Vancouver campus, raising awareness, developing mental health resources for student-athletes and coaches
- They’re just a few of the outstanding champions we’re celebrating today. Let’s hear it for all of them!
- Thank you. (Natalie or Jayne will come up to present the awards).