Volleyball BC has selected Kirsten Kampman and Cole Brandsma as the 2020 recipients of the annual Ray Lepp Scholarship. The $2,000 scholarships are awarded each year to a post-secondary male and female athlete who meet the scholarship criteria and show promise of competing for Canada at the national team level.
Selected from a group of very strong applicants, these athletes have shown a tremendous amount of dedication and commitment to the sport of volleyball and have received numerous accolades for their accomplishments.
KIRSTEN KAMPMAN
2019-20 Canada West Champion (TWU)
2019 High School Athlete of the Year
2018 Team BC 18U Canada Cup (Gold)
2018 BC High School Provincials (Gold) & Tournament MVP
2017 Team BC 16U National Team Cup Challenge (Silver)
2017 BC High School Provincials (Gold) & Tournament MVP
This year’s female recipient, Kirsten Kampman, is an second-year outside hitter at Trinity Western University. Kirsten guided her high school team (Unity Christian) to two Provincial High School Championships (2017-2018), named Tournament MVP in both as well as playing a key role on the 2018 Team BC squad, helping capture gold at the Canada Cup.
“It is a great honour”, says Kampman. “Volleyball BC has played an instrumental role in my development as a player, so being recognized by them for my contributions in the sport is pretty cool”.
COLE BRANDSMA
2019 BC High School Provincials (Gold) & Tournament MVP
2019 Youth National Team representative
2020 Junior National Team representative
2019 16U Club Volleyball MVP
Male recipient Cole Brandsma is a first-year outside hitter at UBC and was most recently selected to the 2020 Junior National Team as they look to qualify for the 2021 World Championship. Cole has also led his high school team (Abbotsford Christian), to gold at the 2019 Provincial High School Championships where he was also named Tournament MVP.
“It is a huge honour to receive this award”, says Brandsma. “It feels really good to follow in the footsteps of other BC athletes who have gotten this award and to see where they are now is encouraging for me and my goal”.
About Ray Lepp
Ray Lepp was a founding member of Volleyball BC (formerly BC Volleyball Association) in 1965, and continued as a Board Member until 1978. He was the President and/or Vice President for 10 of his 22 years a Board of Director. In his early years Ray played volleyball in Estonia in a very strong school and club system. Having recognized that the profile of volleyball in Canada was lower he worked tirelessly to increase interest in the sport. Some of the major programs for the Association included recruiting international coaches to BC, the Winfield Volleyball Camp, and the Pacific Rim Championships.
Ray was certified as a National Official during the time of the Pacific Rim Championships and traveled to the tournament as head of delegation for the Pacific Rim program. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, Ray coached the UBC Men’s Volleyball Team for a total of 10 years. At one time, six players on the Canadian National Team had been coached by Ray at UBC.
In 1989, Ray helped to fundraise some money for the Estonia National Team, who was touring BC, and whose flight was suddenly stopped in Toronto. With the raised funds and Ray’s personal contribution, the team made it to BC. With Ray’s passing, he donated funds through his will to provide a permanent endowment that would support this scholarship in perpetuity. Visit the Scholarship & Awards page for more information.
See the list of past Ray Lepp Scholarship recipients here.