Three young local athletes got a $1,900 boost for their educational pursuits last week, becoming the latest recipients of NHLPA Dan Snyder Memorial Scholarships.
Andrew Gear of Elmira, Coleton Benham of Winterbourne and Elmira’s Liam Moyer were welcomed to the Waterloo home of Graham and Lu Ann Snyder on August 17. It was the 18th year the Snyders have made such presentations.
The Dan Snyder Memorial Scholarship has been awarded since 2004 in honour of Dan Snyder, an Elmira native who played for the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers. In 2003 he died of injuries he sustained in a car accident.
This fall, Gear is attending Wilfrid Laurier University to study kinesiology, Benham is attending the University of Guelph to study management, and Moyer will be studying environmental and business studies at the University of Waterloo.
“I would like to thank the Snyder family for the honour of this award and their ongoing commitment to the Woolwich community,” said Gear. After his kinesiology degree, Gear plans to attend teachers’ college. He says he is also trying out for Junior C hockey, and hopes to play for many more years.
“It means a lot to me to be nominated for this award since Dan has created such a legacy in our town,” said Moyer. “Even though I did not know Dan personally, I am both honoured and humbled to receive this award in his memory considering how much determination, sportsmanship, and dedication he had.”
Moyer was previously a defenseman in the Woolwich Wildcats hockey system. Moyer was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2019. He was in hospital for chemo, radiation and a bone marrow transplant in November 2020, which was successful. The donor was his younger brother.
Benham played baseball and football in high school. He currently plays for the Waterloo Minor Baseball Association, and plans to try out for the University of Guelph’s team.
The seed fund for the scholarship was raised from NHL player donations as well as through an online auction of jerseys operated by the National Hockey League Players’ Association.
The scholarship has so far provided some $80,000 to more than 60 local student athletes.
The scholarship recipients are selected by a panel of judges that includes the Snyder family. Criteria for selection includes sportsmanship, dedication, determination and scholastics.
