Announcement: 2019 Young Member Scholarship Recipients

Congratulations to each of our deserved recipients of the 2019 NZCU South Young Member Scholarships. Nicole Bradley, Piripi Tapsell and John Paul Schryvers are this year’s acclaimed recipients. Nicole, Piripi and John Paul will each receive $5,000 to assist in achieving their goals and aspirations in their chosen fields for 2019 and beyond. This is the 4^th year the NZCU South Young Member Scholarships have been awarded. The scholarships are aimed at recognising young members or family members of members to assist in payment of part or full study in the areas of academia, arts, music or sports within New Zealand or overseas for which applicants have been accepted. The Young Member Scholarship aims to assist recipients in realising their dreams, whilst being recognised within the community and beyond for being at a high level in their chosen field and being able to further develop already recognised potential.

Nicole Bradley

Born and raised in Dunedin, Nicole’s (26) gift for athletics was first spotted by her school Principal at Caversham Primary School.
Following her schooling in Dunedin, Nicole made the move to Auckland to study a Bachelor of Health Science. Not only did her academic and working career prosper, but Nicole’s athletic career soon advanced rapidly.

Nicole works as a Radiographer full time which helps fund her passion as a competitive hammer thrower.  The four-time national hammer champion is currently ranked number 2 in New Zealand and 87th on the World ranking list for 2018.

In the next twelve months, her goal is to claim the New Zealand record, qualify for the World Championships and make the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.  Nicole is completely reliant on self-funding so the scholarship enables her to reduce her hours slightly and focus more on her training.  It will also provide help with her travel and athletics expenses.

Piripi Tapsell

The youngest recipient of the NZCU South Young Member Scholarship, 14 year-old Piripi is the oldest of three children. Born and raised in Tauranga, Piripi currently attends school in Wellington. Through the wonderful support of his parents, Piripi’s passion for basketball and tireless work ethic from a young age has seen him gain representative honours.

A highlight to date for Piripi was being named MVP at the 2017 Nunawading Basketball Tournament in Melbourne. His goal is to be able to play National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Basketball in the USA and then hopefully play Basketball professionally. His upcoming trip to play Basketball at the prestigious John Lucas All Star Tournament in Houston, Texas is an opportunity to showcase his talents in front of USA College Scouts. The scholarship will help towards reaching his goals. 

John Paul Schryvers

For Nelson 18 year-old John Paul Schryvers Christian faith is very important to him.  This means trying to live a life of love, peace, generosity, integrity, trust, leadership, and care for people and the environment.  His dream is to share the desire to live these values with others, regardless of whether they’re Christians or not. In doing this, he aspires to repair his generation’s perception of what it means to be a Christian.

The scholarship will go towards his training and serving 11 months at National Evangelisation Teams Ministries in Brisbane, Australia in 2019. It is a Christian peer-to-peer youth ministry where he will spend the first five weeks of the programme being trained in both practical youth ministry tools and Christian living principles, before beginning ten months of ministry that will see him travel throughout Australia, organising youth outreaches and retreats, and serving in disadvantaged communities.

NZCU South congratulates our 2019 Young Member Scholarship recipients. We are delighted to see the scholarship provide ongoing support in helping our young members achieve their dreams and we will be following the success of our recipients with much enthusiasm.