Lac Beauport, QC native Raphaël Gagné awarded 2016 Team Investors Group Amateur Athletes Fund Bursary
OTTAWA (June 14, 2016) – AthletesCAN and Investors Group are pleased to announce that mountain bike national team member Raphaël Gagné has been awarded a $5,000 Team Investors Group Amateur Athletes Fund bursary.
In keeping with their commitment to amateur sport in Canada, Investors Group established a bursary fund for Canada’s top high performance athletes. A national leader in delivering personalized financial solutions to Canadians, Investors Group annually awards twenty $5,000 bursaries to assist Canada’s elite amateur athletes with the costs of training and competition. Selection criteria includes: athletic achievement, financial need and community involvement.
Since its inception in 2000, the Team Investors Group Amateur Athletes Fund has provided more than $1.6 million to Canadian athletes. AthletesCAN administers the bursary on behalf of Investors Group.
“Investors Group considers it an honour to help support our nation’s elite athletes with these bursaries,” says Trevor Krahn, Manager, Community Affairs for Investors Group. “Athletes at this level are constantly juggling the demands of work and school with training and competition. For 16 years now, we have been pleased to provided Canada’s athletes with bursaries totalling $1.6 million to make those demands easier to manage so they can get more out of life.”
“AthletesCAN applauds Investors Group’s contributions as a leader in corporate support of Canada’s national team athletes”, says AthletesCAN Executive Director Ashley LaBrie. “This bursary recognizes the dedication and leadership Raphaël exhibits both on the field of play and in the community. We look forward to seeing the impact of this bursary throughout his quest for excellence as an athlete and a role model.”
Raphaël’s recent sport accomplishments include a gold medal at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and a 12th place finish at the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Austrailia.
“It’s very encouraging to receive this bursary, and it’s a great help for the coming competitions and training camps during this Olympic season,” says Raphaël. “Team Investors Group Amateur Athletes Fund will help me cover costs related to training and competitions,” he adds. “Thanks to bursaries like this one, I won the 2015 US Cups circuit with amateur-level support against the majority of athletes who were supported professionally.”
