UBC Okanagan Director of Athletics Rob Johnson poses with Heat Men’s soccer coach Dante Zanatta, 2016 Capri Scholarship winner Nicholas Reitsma, and Capri President Tim Miller.

(UBCO / iNFOnews.ca)

There is plenty to be worried about when starting a new school and trying out for a new team.

For Nicholas Reitsma, a 6-foot-3 freshman keeper on UBC Okanagan’s men’s soccer squad, receiving the Capri student scholarship has taken one major worry off his desk.

Winning this year’s Capri Insurance Athletics Entrance Scholarship means he can focus on his goalkeeping and fitness skills while keeping up with his school work. Reitsma will receive $2,500 each year, up to $10,000, while he maintains his status on the varsity team and continues his high academic scores.

The first-year Bachelor of Science student and graduate from Aberdeen Hall, completed his high school career as captain and MVP for his Aberdeen Hall soccer squad. While at Aberdeen he was also vice-president of the student council and maintained his status on the school’s honour roll. The young goalie is thrilled and ‘incredibly grateful’ to receive the award.

"Anytime you are given recognition for your work on and off the field you are pleased, however, in this case it’s special,” says Reitsma. “This year's recruiting class is full of wonderful people who are incredibly dedicated to what they do. For me to be selected out of this group, I couldn't be more thankful."

Tim Miller, president of Capri Insurance, says the high calibre of the young students at UBC Okanagan inspires optimism for the future.

“Meeting these students help us let go of our propensity to focus on what can or did go wrong and realize that year-over-year, the young people of each generation keep making the world a better place,” says Miller. “We are truly grateful for the opportunity to support these exceptional young people. They make us, our community, and the world a better place.”

The Capri Insurance Athletics Entrance Scholarship is funded by an endowment established in 2009 to help top scholars, who are also gifted athletes, attend UBC's Okanagan campus. Director of Athletics and Recreation at UBC's Okanagan campus, Rob Johnson, says the campus community is extremely grateful to the management and staff at Capri for the on-going support provided to the students.

“From its initial involvement as a table sponsor at our annual Athletics Scholarship Breakfast, to providing leadership on the Breakfast organizing committee, to creating an endowment which funds the Athletics Entrance Scholarship, Capri Insurance has shown it is a community leader willing to invest in the future and our student-athletes,” says Johnson. “For this, we are truly grateful.”

News from © iNFOnews, 2016