Surrey’s Sahib Sidhu aims to be as strong in the classroom as on the soccer pitch, apparently.
For a second straight year, the Fleetwood Park Secondary grad has won the men’s academic award given by the University of the Fraser Valley athletic department, after posting a 4.18 GPA while amassing 29 credits toward his Bachelor of Kinesiology degree.
The six-foot-three Sidhu is a third-year defender with the Abbotsford-based Cascades. His bio is posted to gocascades.ca.
He and other post-secondary students have had to overcome adversity during the COVID-19 pandemic to excel academically.
“There’s going to be a lot of obstacles throughout my degree, but the people who can overcome and persevere through tough times will do the best,” Sidhu said in a tweet posted by the Cascades. “It’s not always going to be a smooth road. There’s always bumps along the way. That just makes you a better student-athlete.”
In another tweet, soccer coach Tom Lowndes said he is “proud of Sahib and his commitment in the classroom and on the field!”
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Proud of Sahib and his commitment in the classroom and on the field! https://t.co/gOm4WSNoUz
— Tom Lowndes (@T_Lowndes7) December 22, 2020
Also for 2019-20, UFV’s women’s academic award went to Abbotsford-raised basketball player Veronica Kobes for a third year in a row. She posted a flawless 4.33 GPA on a 4.33 scale, for straight A-pluses over the course of 28 credits in her Bachelor of Science studies.
The President’s Shield, recognizing the Cascades team with the highest academic average, went to women’s volleyball, which combined for 3.66 GPA. Twelve student-athletes from the squad managed at least a 3.5 GPA individually.
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