Former biathlete, Caledonia Nordic volunteer coach, and UNBC 4th year student Allie Dickson   250News photo

Prince George, BC – As a former biathlete who competed in the 2011 Canada Winter Games, Burns Lake native, Allie Dickson, says she knows, first-hand, what a newly-announced scholarship could mean to student athletes pursuing their higher sporting dreams.

Speaking to those gathered yesterday for the announcement of an endowed scholarship fund, Dickson says UNBC’s proximity to the Otway Nordic Centre was paramount in her decision to attend the university back in the fall of 2010, as she prepared for the Winter Games in Halifax.

"I don’t know any other facility that has this short of closeness, where you can get the opportunity to train on a world-class facility," says the now-4th year Health Science student.  "It’s really amazing."

The Caledonia Nordic Ski Club agrees with Dickson and, to that end, approached UNBC about creating an endowment fund that would generate an annual full-tuition scholarship for a nordic athlete who studies at the Prince George campus, as a lasting legacy of the 2015 Winter Games.  The club’s goal is to raise the necessary $150-thousand dollars by February 2015. 

Caledonia Nordic President, Kevin Pettersen, says improvements to facilities at Otway are just one ‘piece’ of the Games’ legacy.  "And so, not only are we looking at the facilities, but also the programs we’re developing – the lasting legacy that will be created with that is our concept around a regional training centre."

"What we want to do, is to give the athletes from the north a great place to come, to both train, and to to pursue their other (post-secondary education) aspirations."

The fund is not starting from zero, Pettersen says it was given a kick-start from Dr. David Snadden, who helped establish UNBC’s Northern Medical Program and makes a tour of the ski trails part of the tour for new medical students.  "And it’s quickly grown in the past week," says Pettersen to $18-thousand dollars.

He credits the club’s ‘very passionate’ membership with always jumping on-board for big projects that have taken Otway from its humble beginnings to its rise to the national stage and says this is one more opportunity to do just that.

Milestone markers lining the Pine Flats ski trail will highlight the fund’s progession to its 2015 goal. 

UNBC’s Development Manager, Kathy Scouten, says, "This is the first time we’ve worked with a club to engage its membership in a fundraising initiative like this."

She says it’s a prestigious award that will help attract and retain the best athletes to UNBC.  "We don’t have any endowed awards that will generate that level of support for a student at UNBC, that also combines sport with education." 

For more information on the fund and how donations can be made, call 250-960-5750, or email giving@unbc.ca