Two Richmond soccer parents dropped an early Christmas present on their daughter’s U17 team, as well as their club.
At a Zoom meeting, Heidi and Bryan Wevers revealed to players and parents on the Division One team that they had created a $250,000 scholarship for female soccer players in their Richmond FC (RFC) girls program.
Should the girls complete their youth soccer careers at RFC and demonstrate community leadership, they will each receive $5,000 towards post-secondary education.
The Wevers’ generous offer applies to the 45 or so girls who play on RFC’s U17, U12 and U11 teams.
“We had been thinking about it for a while,” Heidi told the Richmond News from her home in Steveston.
“My husband coached most of these girls for many years and we think of them as family. There was a lot of team events and the social side outside of it.”
Heidi said the family has been involved with other community projects and community is “so important to us.”
“My husband’s life has revolved around soccer, so this was natural.
“It’s about the caring and encouraging them to stick with soccer until they graduate.
“It’s a pivotal time (for the girls) and it has been a difficult year. But we had been thinking about this prior to the pandemic.”
Heidi added that it also gives the younger girls at the club a reason to stick with the sport until they graduate.
“And if they progress to a level that RFC doesn’t provide (such as the Whitecaps or the BCSPL), they can still apply for the scholarship.”
The scholarship fund, said Heidi, will hold a total of $250,000 over the next 10 years.
