23 July 2004 Sports Scholarship Brings 'Great Balance to Life' as a Student

Lincoln University Rugby Scholar Andrew Ellis of Christchurch believes he has the best of both worlds in his life as a student – tremendous sporting opportunities and a great chance to achieve an academic qualification as a ticket to life.

"At times being a Sports Scholar is very challenging," he says, "but it allows you to have a great balance in your life."

He says it's "awesome" working with the Canterbury Rugby Union – the sporting body associated with Lincoln's Rugby Scholarships – and adds that it's great making good mates, getting to train together and getting good exposure to provincial rugby.

"It's good mixing with mates who are interested in the same sort of things as yourself."

This year Andrew, who plays at halfback, made the NZ Universities Rugby Team and also trialled for the New Zealand Colts. His long term ambition is to play at national level.

A second year landscape architecture student, Andrew is one of 54 Rugby Scholars at Lincoln University and rugby itself is one of six sporting areas in which the University offers scholarships. The others are cricket, golf, hockey, netball, and table tennis. Altogether there are 155 Sports Scholars at Lincoln University spread across the six codes.

They all achieve highly and right now, for example, eight of the University's 23 Netball Scholars have been selected for the sport's NPC trials.

Lincoln University pioneered the Sports Scholarship programme among New Zealand universities when it introduced Cricket, Netball and Rugby scholarships in 1999. The scholarships demand academic excellence and success as well as sporting achievement at a top level. Fees for the duration of a degree are covered so long as the scholars pass everything each year. And they pass well! In Semester One this year the Sports Scholars sat a total of 563 subjects and achieved a 96 percent pass rate.

Lincoln University values the provision of scholarships, bursaries, prizes and awards provided for its students by personal benefactors, external funding agencies, commercial enterprises, professional and learned bodies, alumni and the families of alumni and other sources.

At Lincoln University about 10 percent of students hold scholarships of one sort or another.

Lincoln's most valuable undergraduate scholarships are known as the Lincoln University Scholarships for Excellence and these pay fees plus $4000 in cash each year for the minimum duration of a degree course.

Scholarships originate in many different ways, such as the wish to preserve a connection with an industry or activity, for example Lincoln University's JMH Tripp Agricultural Scholarship was established in memory of the founder of Canterbury's Orari Gorge Station. They can also originate from the need to boost the pool of graduates available to an industry, for example the New Zealand Dairy Industry Undergraduate Scholarships; or the wish to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence and qualifications at the highest level, for example Lincoln University's Graduate and Doctoral Scholarships.

"Scholarships are set up for all sorts of purposes," says Lincoln University's Scholarships Manager, Jane Edwards. "It is really worth taking a browse through our Scholarships Book because the old saying applies: 'You've got to be in to win'."

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand