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‘Brett’s Day’ raises funds for memorial athletic scholarship

August 23, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The family and friends of Brett Snell want his memory to live on through an athletic scholarship they have created in his name.

Brett died as the result of a jet ski accident last summer.

The local resident was an avid athlete who participated in several sports and was well known locally through his involvement in different athletic activities.

Organizers created a day filled with golf and outdoor lawn games at Lynbrook Family Golf Centre to raise funds for the scholarship effort.

Playing outdoor lawn games was one of Brett’s favourite pastimes, explained his sister Elyse.

“All the funds today will be going to the Brett Snell Memorial Scholarship,” Eylse said. “As of our ticket sales, we’ve got enough for ten years for two scholarships – a male and a female scholarship. We did have a lot of donations even before the event was announced, just from the community. There was a lot from my Dad’s ball teams and hockey teams and businesses around town.”

Several hundred people turned out for the event at Lynbrook. Some people took to the links for a shotgun-style tournament, while others enjoyed playing several different games on the lawn.

“When me, my sister (Brianne Snell) , and my brother’s girlfriend (Nicole Tirpone) were planning the event, we knew nothing about golf. So our vision was the lawn game side of it, but luckily my Dad’s friends have taken over that. My brother was an athlete but he really liked the lawn games. He would use any excuse to have lawn games and a few beers with his buddies. We have most of these games up north where he had his accident. That was his favourite place to be and one of his favourite things to do was just to hang out playing these games.”

The thought of creating a scholarship was the idea of Mike Aubrey and Marty Cartwright – friends of Brett’s father. They had already started a scholarship fund. 

“We worked with Orangeville District High School to start the scholarship,” Elyse explained. “The athletic coaches there are going to pick a male and female who are not necessarily the best on the team but they show the best spirit and have leadership qualities. My brother wasn’t a sports superstar but he was a guy that everyone could get along with and he brought the team together.”

Brett played on the school’s hockey and basketball teams.

The scholarships will be awarded to two Orangeville District Secondary School graduating students who will be going on to post-secondary education. 

Over 70 people volunteered to make sure Brett’s Day was a success.

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