Serge Parenteau, Treasurer of the Valley East Minor Ball Association, shown on the far left of the above photo, has had a dream for over five years. His dream was the establishment of a Scholarship Program to give something back to the young people who have devoted their summers representing Valley East on the playing field. This year his dream came true, and four players will come a little closer to achieving their personal academic dreams thanks to Serge and the executive of the Association.

Shown in the photo with Serge, from the left is Jason Provincial (19),  Joshua Stewart (21), Arthur Hawley (19), Lloyd Duhamel (standing in for his son Chris), and the President of the Association, Larry Furmanic.

Chris Duhamel, who is currently taking Mass Communications at the University of North Carolina on a baseball scholarship, received the $1000 Sports Scholarship.

Arthur Hawley, who is attending Laurentian University in Civil Engineering received the $1000 Academic Scholarship.

Joshua Stewart, who is attending Cambrian College in the Business Administration Program, and Jason Provincial, who is in the Human Kinetics program at Laurentian each received $500 scholarships.

All four players competed on the Midget/Juvenile club in the Northern Select League which included teams from Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury.

When making the presentations, Furmanic commented, “It makes me very proud to award these scholarships to you boys. To me this is what it’s all about. To be able to do something for kids like you make all of the volunteer hours worthwhile.”

The scholarship program will be continued next year. To be eligible, candidates must have played in the VEMBA for a minimum of three (3) years and be enrolling in a recognized post-secondary institution.