League members Deb Negraiff and Cheryl Templeton presented Vanier’s Ava Viczko with a cheque for $500 as the recipient of the honour, which comes from the proceeds of their annual golf tournament.
“I think she’s a very involved young lady,” said Negraiff, who also serves as the scholarship coordinator. “Women in sport are still fighting for equality and it’s still going to take a long time. The fact she’s involved in sport, she plans to stay in sport and has been working with kids, that’s fantastic and that’s what we’ve been looking for.”
The first set of scholarships were presented last summer to Vanier’s Madison Thul, Central’s Sage McCulloch and Peacock’s Olivia Mowchenko, but the tournament itself wasn’t held due to the ongoing pandemic. Fortunately, there were enough funds left over to hand out a single award this year, with the plans of refilling the coffers during the second annual Women Fore Women tournament on Aug. 21.
To say Viczko is deserving is a bit of an understatement.
She carried a 97 per cent average through her Grade 12 courses at Vanier, and while sports weren’t played at the high school level this past year, she had an outstanding 2019 with her varsity teams.
Viczko posted top-10 finishes in the junior girls 80m hurdles and long jump during the 2019 high school track and field provincial championships, helping Vanier win 3A team gold at the event. The following fall, she was one of the Vanier Spirits’ team leaders as they won the 4A girls provincial soccer championship.
That success was on top of her regular volunteer and coaching work with Moose Jaw Soccer, all of which factored into her application being accepted.
“It’s really exciting since it helps pay off my schooling and I get a chance to learn what I want to learn and help other people with things in the future, so it’s really nice,” Viczko said.
Viczko plans to take Kinesiology at the University of Regina this fall, following up on her years involved in sports by helping others heal from injuries.
“I think playing sports is really important for me when it comes to developing leadership skills and feeling more confident, and then I get to use that and go into physiotherapy, which is the goal,” she said. “I suffered a lot with sports injuries, so being able to help kids with that in the future is something I really grateful for to be able to give back.”
Registration for the 2021 Women Fore Women tournament has opened, which this year will feature two-woman teams playing six holes of scramble, six holes of alternate shot and six holes of best score.
The tournament starts at 10 a.m., specifically so participants will have time to make it to the Saskatchewan Roughrider game against the Ottawa Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium later that evening.
The cost for members is $60, non members $85 and includes a cart, meal and prizes. All proceeds go back into the scholarship fund. The deadline to register is Aug. 16, and there’s a limit of 50 teams.
For more information and to register, call the Hillcrest Golf Course at (306) 693-1921.
