The accomplishments of athletes at St. Anthony’s School were celebrated at its annual Awards night dinner and banquet.
Athletes, coaches, teachers and families gathered on June 5 to celebrate the year of achievements in athletics. This year, St. Anthony’s athletes participated in virtually every scholastic sport in competition and had great results. This was also a year of transition as the school moved to its new facility. This new school will offer students even more advantages to further their athletic pursuits.
This year the school heard from one of its own as Gage Murphy was the featured speaker. He detailed his journey from high school into post secondary life as an athlete.
His talk focused on the importance of having a goal and in fact, he said he might have missed opportunities because he wasn’t focused on his goals.
Gage graduated from St. Anthony’s and in his first year at the University of Alberta he qualified for the golf team. He played two years and in his second summer qualified for the Canadian Amateurs, but missed the cut. He was set to head back to the University of Alberta for his third year to a life he had become accustomed to, when his father challenged him with an opportunity to play at New Mexico Junior College.
He was reinvigorated. He played two years most, often landing on the travelling team, playing in tournaments. His grades also improved. Now that he has graduated he is looking at playing for a university in Texas.
His message for students facing the prospect of playing at the post secondary level was that of hope.
“People try and paint these ugly pictures of what the “real world “ or university looks like. These just might be disheartening or impeding someone’s progress,” he said.
