Sport scholarships

CELEBRATING ANOTHER YEAR

OF SPORTING SCHOLARSHIP SUCCESS

Diocesan School for Girls is celebrating another year of high-performance sporting achievements, with three athletes set to take up sports scholarships this year at universities in the United States.

The student athletes include 18-year-old Issy Jackson, who is set to take up a four-year water polo scholarship at the University of Michigan in August, where she will study for a Bachelor of Sports Management.

Issy has recently been named as a member of the travelling National Women’s Water Polo team to represent New Zealand at the World Aquatics Championships in Hungary in June.

In addition, Aimee Crosbie will take up a swimming scholarship at the University of Virginia; while Lauren Williams has been awarded a rowing scholarship at Stanford University.

School Principal Heather McRae commented, “We have a rich history of Dio girls achieving sporting scholarships at US universities, and we are so proud of their commitment to excellence.

“Being a high-performance athlete takes incredible grit and perseverance, and we have loved supporting them on their journeys.”

Over the past seven years, Dio students have been awarded 17 sports scholarships to a range of US universities, including Ivy League universities Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown University and Princeton. Seven scholarships have been awarded for water polo over that time, followed by hockey, swimming, rowing and football. Eleven of the student athletes have represented New Zealand in their chosen code, either in age group competition or at world championship level.

SUPPORT FOR OUR HIGHPERFORMING ATHLETES

“High performance sport is incredibly rewarding, but also a lot of hard work,” says Diocesan’s Director of Sport, Angie Winstanley-Smith, who has led Dio’s highperformance sports programme for the past eight years.

As the current National Women’s Water Polo team coach, Angie is well placed to help Dio students navigate their way through the rigorous scholarship application process in the US. She says the support for high-performance athletes comes from all areas of the school, with former student athletes and current staff members Gabby Oloapu, Hayley Bowden and Francesca Rowley all providing advice, guidance and mentoring.

Angie works collaboratively with the School’s careers advisors to ensure the students have both sporting and academic pathways. She says friends and family also provide invaluable support, and often act as a sounding board as the students settle in.

“Once in the States as a student athlete, the pressure can be high with having to perform both academically and in the sporting world. It’s great for the girls to have the support from home.

“I’m so excited to see what they can achieve as athletes and wherever their future takes them,” says Angie. “We’re all very proud of their outstanding accomplishments.”

Aimee Crosbie