Hillcrest Golf Club’s women’s league Women for Women Golf Tournament was a big success last year, and organizers were proud to present three young female athletes from Moose Jaw with a $2,000 scholarship each.
Deb Negraiff is a member of the Hillcrest Golf Club ladies’ league who took on the responsibility to look after their scholarship program. The program is a recent initiative by the ladies’ league, beginning only a couple of years before COVID hit.
Their 2021 tournament was their most successful so far.
“Last year, when we had the tournament, it was a huge success,” Negraiff said. “So, we decided on three $2,000 scholarships, and hopefully the tournament this year will be as successful.”
The scholarships were competed for by senior students in Moose Jaw high schools. They were looking for high-performing athletes about to start post-secondary education. The girls wrote and submitted essays for consideration by the league, and those essays were reviewed by three members of the league who happen to be former teachers.
“If you talk to a lot of the ladies in our golf league, we all played sports all our lives,” said Bev Barber, who sits on the Hillcrest Ladies’ League board, served for three years as president of the board, and chairs the Women for Women tournament committee. “There’s a lot of tournaments that are for other things, but we wanted to look after our young girls and show them that we older women care. We all feel very strongly that we’re helping women become leaders when they graduate.”
The scholarship winners are Malea Kletzel, graduating from Central Collegiate; Summer Okerstrom, graduating from Peacock Collegiate; and Mya Viczko, also graduating from Peacock.
“It’s a great opportunity, and I’m very thankful that the Hillcrest (Ladies’ League) is recognizing women in sport,” Kletzel said. Kletzel is a standout local athlete who is headed for the Medicine Hat College volleyball program. She’s also danced, played basketball, flag football, competed in track and field, and more.
Summer Okerstrom plays volleyball, basketball, and softball — among others — and is headed to Briercrest College on a volleyball scholarship. After completing a degree in psychology at Briercrest, she plans to attend the University of Saskatchewan to complete an after-degree nursing program.
“This is an amazing opportunity,” Okerstrom said. “I’ve travelled a lot with my club team this year, and it’s nice to know that we’re sort of getting some acknowledgement for all the work. … It’s really nice that they do this, and that the ladies at the golf course give this opportunity to young girls to promote us in our sports.”
Equestrian show jumper Mya Viczko has been competing and travelling for her sport for 14 years. Like her fellow athletes, she’s participated in many sports — volleyball, track, lacrosse, and speed skating are some of them. She’s headed to the University of Calgary next year to study honours zoology, with the goal of becoming a veterinarian.
“It was pretty easy to write about something that I love and that I’ve been in for so many years,” Viczko said. “With a sport that’s not as mainstream, like mine, I think it was pretty cool to have that recognition. … Thank you to Deb (Negraiff) and the rest of the team for this opportunity, I’m so excited.”
