Smart on and off the ice.
Two Vernon players are among the 12 student-athletes receiving $1,000 Kootenay International Junior Hockey league scholarships.
Each of the four KIJHL divisions had three players picking up bursaries.
Porter Trevelyan of the Cyclone Taylor Cup Junior B champion Revelstoke Grizzlies was one of three winners from the Doug Birks Division, while Kevin-Thomas (KT) Walters of the North Okanagan Knights collected a scholarship from the Bill Ohlhausen Division.
Each player will use the scholarships toward post-secondary studies.
Trevelyan graduated from Vernon Secondary School in 2021 and has interest in attending Okanagan College to get his commercial helicopter pilot certificate in Kelowna. His goal is to work for search and rescue in the Okanagan. He also has aspirations of playing in the American Collegiate Athletic Association or the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League.
In the community, Trevelyan has helped with Meals on Wheels two-to-three hours per week, minor hockey, Revelstoke Railway Museum events, the Revelstoke Rotary Club and other organizations. His favourite was the minor hockey skates as he could pass on his knowledge and love for the game.
“Porter has the qualities of perseverance and is goal-oriented. In addition to his team commitments, Porter held a part-time job at a local flooring store, never failing to attend to all of his commitments,” said Grizzlies head coach-general manager Ryan Parent.
Trevelyan and the Grizzlies lost the Okanagan-Shuswap Conference Championship to the Princeton Posse, but earned an automatic berth into the provincial tournament as hosts, going 4-0 to take the title.
Trevelyan played 43 regular-season games with Revelstoke, scoring 10 goals and adding seven assists for 17 points. He had 2-5-7 in 10 KIJHL playoff games, and played all four of the Grizzlies’ games during the provincials but was kept off the Cyclone Taylor Cup tournament scoresheets.
A graduate of Vernon Secondary School in 2020, Walters is pursuing a career as an engineer and will study to earn an engineering degree through Okanagan College and UBCO while playing for the Okanagan Lakers in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League.
He helped in the community by bagging groceries, shoveling snow, reading for elementary school students, assisting with a community food drive, Christmas with the Salvation Army and volunteering at an animal shelter among other things.
“As a captain, KT did an excellent job of bringing the whole team into the battle,” said Knights head coach Liam McOnie. “He made a point of asking the coaching staff what he needed to do to make an impact on each game and help give the team its best chance to win, and he bought into it immediately.”
Walters led the Knights in scoring in the regular season with 24-30-54 in 34 games played. He added 10 post-season points as North Okanagan fell to Princeton in the Ohlhausen Division final.
READ MORE: PHOTOS: Revelstoke Grizzlies hoist the Cyclone Taylor Cup
READ MORE: Princeton Posse skates to 4-1 victory over North Okanagan and clinches division finals
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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