It took months of planning but in one day, the 10th annual UNBC Timberwolves Legacy Night event raised a record-breaking $230,000.
The hot stove question-and-answer session with NHL executive Brian Burke Nov. 20 packed 508 people into the Civic Centre auditorium and they opened their wallets in an overwhelming show of generosity.
“This year’s Timberwolves Legacy Night was a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when a community comes together to champion student-athletes,” said UNBC President Dr. Geoff Payne. “This milestone, the largest Legacy event yet, underscores the lasting impact of supporting students as they grow into leaders who inspire and strengthen northern communities and beyond.”
The Nov. 20 event marked the inauguration of the Selen and Anita Alpay Leadership Award, which will provide $1,000 to each of the four TWolves’ four varsity teams’ chosen annual recipients. What started with a $25,000 donation turned into a live audience auction during the event, which built a $58,000 pot that UNBC will match.
The money collected two weeks ago far eclipsed last year’s $144,000 Legacy Night fundraising total.
“I’m blown away with the support, said UNBC athletics director Loralyn Murdoch.
“One hundred per cent of that ($230,000) goes to student-athlete awards. Nothing goes into operating, nothing goes into salaries, it’s solely for student-athlete awards which allows them to recruit on an annual basis.
“There’s parameters in U SPORTS and you can only offer so much money but we have to raise the money to go out and recruit with. In order to recruit the best students and the best athletes and be competitive with all the other schools in Canada West, it’s important that we have a budget for it.”
U SPORTS limits the number of Athletic Financial Awards (which cover the full cost of tuition and student fees) and that varies according to sport. For UNBC soccer, each team is limited to a maximum of 12.6 AFA units, while the most the two basketball team can hand out is 8.4 AFA units.
“We’re not even close to the maximum, so it’s still an uphill battle (competing with bigger schools) but we’re closing the gap.” said Murdoch.
No student-athlete is allowed to receive more than the cost of tuition and fees and not all students on each of the teams receives financial awards.
This year, U SPORTS dropped its first-year grade requirements for participation and student awards. Previously, students had to have an 80 per cent average in their final year of high school to be eligible for an athletic scholarship and needed a 60 per cent average or better to be allowed to play varsity sports in their first year.
Legacy Night funds all of UNBC’s student-athlete scholarships and bursaries. It can’t be used for travel or to pay hotel/meal costs on team road trips. The cost of coaches’ salaries and running the sports programs comes from the UNBC’s annual budget.
“We do other fundraisers, so our (game)ticket sales, sideboards, our summer camps, all that goes into operating which helps subsidize our travel,” said Murdoch.
UNBC switched the Legacy event from a breakfast fundraiser to an evening event in 2022, and that allowed for silent and live auctions which bring in more money.
“This year, that brought in approximately $30,000,” said Murdoch. “We didn’t have that ability with the breakfast.
“The Selen and Anita award, that was about $58,000, and we had a great speaker and that brought 150 additional people into the room from the previous years and that adds up.
“Selen and Anita have given back the community the entire time they’ve lived here as (Canadian Tire) business owners, and I’m so happy the community stepped up for something in their name. It’s endowed and those awards will be there forever.”
