MONTREAL – A dozen student-athletes from McGill University are among 211 athletic financial award recipients that received a combined total of $410,000 in scholarship money from the Aléo Foundation. The annual awards gala, now in its 39th year and presented by the RDS television network, supports those who compete under the umbrella of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ). The soiree was held on Dec. 3 at the Maison du loisir et du sport.
 
The McGill laureates include recruitment bursaries, valued at $10,000 over four years, handed out to soccer's Ibrahim Chami, an Arts freshman from Laval, Que., football's Victor Paradis (geography; Montreal), swimmer Hocine Feddag (mechanical engineering; Montreal), basketball's Alexandre Reinert-Woodfine (management; Gatineau, Que), track & field's Kaelie Sanogo (physical education; Laval, Que) and volleyball's Emma Waskiewicz (management; Laval, Que).
 
Leadership bursaries, worth $4,000 each from the McCall MacBain program, were awarded to hockey's Alexandre Gagnon (kinesiology; Gatineau, Que), swimmer Naomie Lo (software engineering; Toronto) and rugby's Anderson Recker (management; Halifax, NS).
 
Academic excellence bursaries, valued at $2,000, from Molson Coors and Gildan, were presented to soccer's Sophie Guilmette (kinesiology; Ahuntsic, Que) and basketball's Saransh Padhy (electrical engineering; Stouffville, Que).
 
Finally, a special $2,000 Aléo Foundation bursary, designed for student-athletes from collegiate networks outside Quebec who chose the RSEQ route, was offered to track & field's Bianka Dusseault (Arts; Bois des Filion, Que).
 
"We're proud that our oldest program, inaugurated at the same time as the Foundation in 1985, is still going strong," said Patricia Demers, executive director of the Aléo Foundation. "In 2023, we added the Donnez au suivant program, and this year, we presented our first class of the Leadership program, launched in the spring. As we approach our 40th anniversary in 2025, it's invigorating to continue building to help local student-athletes reach their full potential."
 
Created in 1985 as the Quebec Foundation for University Athletics and renamed in 2022 as the Aléo Foundation, this body has awarded over $25 million in scholarships to nearly 5,000 student-athletes across Quebec.
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
McGill Athletics and Recreation
(514) 398- 7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
www.mcgillathletics.ca