Ask anyone who’s done it and they will tell you that juggling school work while playing on a varsity sports team is difficult. For third-year kinesiology student Katie Ross this juggling act is just the beginning. Katie plays on Acadia’s varsity soccer team and when the team’s season ended in early November, she climbed back on the bus to join her teammates on Acadia’s varsity basketball squad. But on November 16, she made a brief side trip to Ottawa --joining seven other student athletes from across Canada -- to receive a Governor General’s Academic All-Canadian Commendation. Along with being a two-sport student-athlete, Katie carries a perfect 4.0 GPA and was named a CIS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian, Acadia’s third Top 8 student-athlete to visit the Governor General in the past three years.

“Having an Acadia student-athlete receive the Governor General’s Commendation three years in a row makes us feel very proud,” says Kevin Dickie, Acadia’s director of Athletics. “For us, it’s all about inspiring student-athletes to be the best they can be. We want them to know that if they’ve done their best, they’ve succeeded – whether it’s in the classroom or in their chosen sport.”

In typical fashion, Ross downplays the effort required to be chosen a Top 8 Academic All-Canadian.

“I play close attention to when I have tests and when my assignments are due and try hard to plan ahead,” says Ross. “I use my off-days and travel time to stay up to date or get ahead, but I’m not the only one. It’s easy to stay motivated when everyone else on the team is doing the same thing.”

Indeed, 19 members of Acadia’s women’s soccer team earned 2015 Academic All-Canadian honours, including last year’s Governor General’s Commendation recipient Michelle Pryde.

It’s clear that Ross was prepared for hard work when she chose to come to Acadia. “I wanted to play two sports but no other school wanted to give me the chance. Here, I concentrate on soccer until the season is over and only practice basketball in small group sessions. Even then, my coaches trust me to pay close attention to how hard I’m working in practice so I don’t burn myself out. This trust makes me feel good as an athlete.”

“I think team culture has a lot to do with it,” says Amit Batra, head Axewoman soccer coach. “The students influence each other but Katie’s work ethic, time management, family support, and educational background in the IB program at Halifax Grammar are all key. Katie is one of many students who help set the tone for others. Frankly, I can’t wait to see what she does next.”

With her eye on a career in physiotherapy, Ross knows many Acadia kinesiology graduates who are now practicing in the field and were prepared well by their professors. But with no previous connections to Acadia, playing for the Axewomen wasn’t necessarily Katie’s first choice. Being given the opportunity to play two sports was important but not the only reason she chose Acadia. A visit to campus where she met many of her professors convinced her that the personal attention would be valuable and, after two full years on campus, Katie now says she has found the Acadia experience to be even more than she originally imagined.

“The entire community, on and off campus, is great,” she says. “I volunteer in Acadia’s cardio-rehabilitation program on Mondays and Wednesday at 7 a.m. as well as at a number of student-led initiatives such as the Hannah Miller Tournament and Relay for Life. Volunteering is fun and a welcome break from school and competition, and many of the community members we volunteer with are in the stands at our games. Because of its size, Wolfville is the perfect fit for me.  It’s a small town, but it’s a very busy town. There is never a shortage of things to do.”

“I like to think of Acadia as an incubator,” says Dickie. “Whatever students have inside them, we will help them find it then nurture it to make it grow. We have seen this time and time again with student-athletes in our varsity sports program. They have won national academic awards, athletic awards and community service awards. This is a very special place and our students, through the support they receive, find a way to excel.”

Batra echoes this sentiment. “We certainly look for student-athletes who can perform at a very high level on the field, but it’s incomplete unless they also have academic goals. We believe in creating an environment where students can exceed what they believe is their potential.”

Ross’s advice to any student looking at their post-secondary options is to look at the support available to students. “The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who goes to another school but is enrolled in the same program as I am. She asked me what I do when I have a question and I said I just text my professor and usually get an answer back within in matter of hours at the most. In my class there are just over 30 students – in hers there are more than 600. The scale at Acadia means I get to know my professors and they get to know me. I’m very comfortable here.”

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