Volleyball BC has selected Sydney Grills and Liam Remple as the 2021 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.

SYDNEY GRILLS
2017 Thunder Volleyball Club Provincial Gold
2017 Thunder Volleyball Club National Gold
2016 Team BC 16U National Team Cup Challenge (Gold)

This year’s female recipient, Sydney Grills, is a second-year outside hitter at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO). Sydney helped guide her club team (Thunder Volleyball) to a Provincial and National Championships, as well as captaining the 2016 Team BC squad to gold at the Team Cup Challenge. She also selected to Team Canada’s Youth National program.

Male recipient Liam Remple is a first-year outside hitter at Trinity Western University. The 6’7 athlete from Vernon led his high school Vernon Christian team to two high school provincial championships. Liam won a Gold medal with Team BC at the U18 Canada Cup and has also represented Canada at the NORCECA Pan American Cup in Santo Domingo, capturing Silver. He was selected to Team Canada’s U19 roster.

LIAM REMPLE
2x High School Provincial Champion 2018/19 & 2019/2020
Varsity Letters BC Boys Volleyball Player of the Year
Team BC Gold at U18 Canada Cup
Silver at 2021 NORCECA Pan American Cup

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.