Three local students got a financial boost for their studies this fall after being named the recipients of the Dan Snyder Memorial Scholarship on Tuesday night.
Former Sugar King Jarred Parent was chosen for the Sugar King category, while Corin Metzger and Robyn Beckett were each named as Woolwich Community open category winners.
“Year after year we’re impressed with the quality of athletes and community members that we see apply for this award,” said Rick Weiss, one of the directors for the Dan Snyder Memorial Foundation who presented the three recipients with a plaque in the backyard of Graham and Lu Ann Snyder’s Park Avenue home.
“This is something we take a lot of pride in for Dan’s memory.”
For their efforts, the trio will receive $1,200 towards their post-secondary costs this year, as well as a nameplate on a trophy that is stored in the Woolwich Memorial Centre.
The award caps off a stellar year for Parent who helped lift the Kings to the Sutherland Cup championship back in May. Parent was named the team’s top defensive player at their annual awards gala, and also was awarded the Midwestern Conference’s Leroy Jamieson Memorial Trophy in March, which recognizes a
player’s outstanding contributions to one team.
“It is such a tremendous honour to be mentioned in the same name as Dan Snyder,” said Parent of the award, which his brother Damian also won back in 2008 when he was named the minor hockey recipient for Woolwich. Parent is entering his third year of studying business at the University of Waterloo.
For Metzger, the award is a fitting addition to her whirl-wind summer as well after she recently returned to Elmira after participating in the inaugural U25 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships held at Brock University last month, in which Canada finished fourth.
“It’s definitely an honour to be recognized for such a prestigious award,” she said. “It’s great to be recognized as possessing some of the traits as such a well-known member of this community.”
Metzger is heading into her second year at Mohawk College where she is studying general arts.
Beckett was recognized as a winner this year thanks to her tireless involvement in community action and sports. The Elmira District Secondary School graduate is off to McMaster University in Hamilton to begin her first year of studies in the environmental and earth science program.
She said it was a shock to hear she was named as one of the winners.
“When I first got the call, it was very exciting. I’ve applied for multiple scholarships and never won, so it’s nice to know that they felt I was deserving of this award.”
The Dan Snyder Memorial Scholarship Fund was established shortly after the death of Elmira native and NHL player Dan Snyder, who succumbed to injuries suffered in a car accident in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2003. Funds were raised through donations from NHL players and an online auction of game-worn
NHL jerseys with help from the NHL Players Association. The criteria for selection are based on the principles of sportsmanship, dedication, determination and scholastics.
