Oak Bay High grad Brayden Tate continued the family tradition when he stepped on the pitch for the University of Victoria this year.
Last week, he learned a sizeable award from a prominent local family will make that choice easier.
Tate, in his first year of social sciences studies at the University of Victoria, is the winner of the Bate Family Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame Award.
“It was huge,” Tate said of learning he received the award. “It takes a lot of pressure off.”
An active member on the high-performance scene, having spent time competing and training at the provincial and national level, Tate played on the 2015 U18 BC Rugby 7s team, the 2015 Canada West U17 Rugby team and captained the Oak Bay High team to a bronze at the BC Rugby provincials.
This year he’s suiting up for the Vikes’ first-year Saxons team and for the Junior Varsity Norsemen.
Tate’s father, Doug Tate, has marked two decades as the head coach of UVic’s rugby program, leading the team to two national titles, and his brother Morgan is a fourth-year UVic student with the Vikes varsity team.
Brayden would like to follow that path to the senior team, and said the award will help him focus on his training, studies and volunteer work.
“Right now, I’m doing the best I can for UVic and see where it takes me from there,” he said.
Off the pitch, Tate is working toward an education degree and plans to pursue a career as a physical education teacher in the Greater Victoria School District.
At Oak Bay High, he volunteered for several school events with the Oak Bay High School Athletic Leadership program, Cops for Cancer campaigns and Best Buddies. He is also involved with Young Life Canada, where he is a youth leader, and with the Mustard Seed.
Tate is the sixth winner of the Bate Family Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame Award.
David Bate, whose family created the award, said he remembered leaving Victoria to attend McGill on a full scholarship and left with a belief that he needed to leave town to get a great student and educational experience.
“A year later I was back and spent the next eight years at the University of Victoria getting a world-class education, while living in one of the best communities in the world,” said Bate, who lives in South Africa where he works as an investment banker. “The University of Victoria is an important part of our community. Athletics is an important part of our community. Kids graduating from Victoria-area high schools shouldn’t have to move away from home to obtain an education and advance their athletic ambitions.”
Bate said he believes it is important to support his alma mater. “The University of Victoria needs the financial firepower and community platform to attract local athletes to its teams,” Bate said.
Sports history to celebrate
• Greater Victoria enjoys a stellar sports history and the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame honours the many athletes, teams and builders who have contributed to that history in their displays at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre through Gate 3.