CREDIT: CANDIS BROSS, TACKTACK / ISTOCK / THINKSTOCK
Fanshawe's 25 recipients of the 2014-2015 National Scholar Award.

The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Fanshawe Athletics honoured twenty-five Fanshawe College athletes for their academic excellence.

The National Scholar Award Recipients for the 2014-2015 season acknowledges the outstanding academic accomplishments of CCAA student-athletes. In order to earn the title, a student-athlete must achieve honours standing at their institution in the current academic year.

In addition, Fanshawe College was third in the Ontario Collegiate Athletic Association (OCAA) with its 25 scholar winners from cross-country running, soccer, golf, volleyball, basketball, badminton and curling.

It is without question that hard work inside the classroom needs an outlet to harness potential. And when joining a school sports team, an athlete gets in the rhythm with fellow teammates and receives positive coaching that leads to a combination of assets: teammates to lean on, coaches who support and encourage studies and the adventure of travelling and competing against other schools.

For one student-athlete, the result was well worth gruelling runs and late night study sessions. It is often noted that athletics and academics work in tandem and result in a lot of success.

Ryan Foott, a second-year student in the Construction Engineering Technician program, completed his first year in mainly hands-on carpentry skills.

He was given the Dean’s Honour Roll last year and was also a Fanshawe Student Ambassador. Having this role meant he attended monthly dinner meetings with other members of the London Home Builders Association to discuss and learn about construction issues and events in London. He is also learning about opening his own business and hopes to align it with his general elective topic choice, “Building sustainable communities”.

“Winning this academic award was especially exciting and rewarding seeing that after all of the running season had wound down, I was still recognized for my academics later down the road,” Foott said.

“It is great to see that student-athletes are recognized for their academic achievements, but I hope to continue to learn and grow as a student athlete. I love going to school for the fact my teammates and coaches are around, and that we can all share our accomplishments with each other, it really is a good support group.”

Foott also earned Fanshawe’s Male Rookie of the Year for Cross Country in the 2014 – 2015 season. In addition, he was a CCAA First Team All-Star, an OCAA All Team All-Star and helped the team win Ontario Cross Country Championships last year and second nationally.

“I am proud to be a Fanshawe athlete and love representing the sports teams on top of [my academic achievements]. As an athlete, we are always trying to perfect our routine, performance and goals, and I think it is a great model for a successful student.”

Foott stressed that time management was a big factor to getting through first-year as a student-athlete.

“Hopefully my love for both will continue to flourish, and I can share my knowledge with others. To inspire kids to be on sports teams and to be creatively in tune with themselves is my goal and one day I hope to teach students the tricks I have learned to success.”

Even with a variety of sports teams at Fanshawe College, one element really hits home for students in any sport: coming back into a routine after the summer and being with old teammates and friends.

“I would love to race in a different country and travel, but there is no one I would rather represent than Fanshawe. I hope to run here for another three years. My best memory with the team is hiking up to the top of a mountain that overlooked a giant river in Banff, Alberta. We were there to race and got to enjoy a nice hike on our time off.”