Tyler Scholz’ home team, from left, mother Vicky, father Ralph and sister Haley. BERND FRANKE/Postmedia Network
There is a nice story in the St. Catharines Standard about Gryphon recruit Tyler Scholz and the academic success he and other players at Niagara Falls’ A.N. Myer have had.
The football Marauders were successful on the field, winning 3 consecutive OFSAA Bowls. Now many of their student-athletes will receive Athletic Financial Awards as they move on to university.
Scholarships reward Myer football players for academic as well as athletic success
By Bernd Franke
There is a reason they are called “student athletes” and not the other way around.
It’s the same reason Tyler Scholz will receive up to $4,500 annually for as long as the next five years to offset the cost of tuition at the University of Guelph.
Scholz, a Grade 12B student who lined up on both sides of the ball on an A.N. Myer Secondary School football team that defended an Ontario championship by going undefeated, began appearing on Guelph’s radar for his contributions to the Niagara Falls school’s success of the gridiron.
However, what set the 19-year-old apart from a crowded field of prospects when the time came for the southern Ontario university to start awarding scholarships was his success in the classroom.
Only student athletes who average at least 80 per cent in their high school studies are eligible to receive an athletic scholarship, also known as an Athletic Financial Awards (AFA).
Unlike four- to five-year full rides out of the border, there are many stops along the way to graduation for AFA recipients. Defensive co-ordinator Doug Grandy, who represented Gryphons head coach Kevin MacNeill at Scholz’s signing ceremony, said the scholarship is renewable annually.
“Once they’re here, they have to average at least 70 per cent, and we keep track of that,” he said. “They’re expected to do well in class. That’s the No. 1 reason why they’re here.”
Mount Allison University, Laurier, St. Francis Xavier and Waterloo also expressed interest having the Niagara Falls native and son of former Canadian Football League player Ralph Scholz join their football programs.
In the end, the choice came down to Guelph and Waterloo, with the background music for the decision-making process provided by Led Zepplin.
Some more excerpts …
Points in Guelph’s favour were “family feel” and “great coaching.”
“I really felt like I was among friends.”
The Gryphons impressed the athlete in the student athlete as a team that would be “more competitive” from the get go.
“A better chance of getting a Vanier,” he said, referring to the Vanier Cup, the ultimate prize for university football in Canada.
And …
In five seasons at Myer, Tyler Scholz saw action on both sides. He lined up as a receiver on offence and deep in the defensive backfield when the Marauders didn’t have possession of the football.
He’s projected to be a defensive back with the Gryphons, and he’s not upset up at leaving one of the glamour positions on the gridiron.
“I don’t like to have the spotlight on me,” Scholz said. “I like to have the spotlight on the team as a whole.”
These excerpts don’t constitute even half the article. You can read the full story here.
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