Photo: Contributed

Committed to Princeton University Tigers upon graduation in 2021, this Grade 10 student at Pen High has her sights set squarely on being selected to our national women’s ice hockey team with the ultimate goal of representing Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Sarah Paul is December's Rotary student of the month.

By any yardstick, Paul is an exceptionally talented and highly motivated student-athlete who is equipped with the character and core skill set uniquely tailored to shine both in the classroom and on the ice.

Paul, her mother and two-year older brother, Simon, immigrated to Canada from Holland 14 years ago when she was only one year old. They currently live with her stepdad in West Kelowna. Her Dutch heritage intrigues her as during WWII, a grandfather hid from the Nazis on the same street as Anne Frank.

Paul’s family, of whom she is extremely proud, is very tight-knit, often watching sports and movies together.  In rare moments of relaxation, Sarah can be found in the kitchen making stir fry for dinner. She often hikes and trains off-season with Simon, who, while still in secondary school, plays on a men’s rugby team, containing several ex-Olympians, in Kelowna. Clearly, sports proficiency runs in the family.

To Paul, “the biggest challenge is time management because hockey is so time-consuming, but school can’t be left behind, and family means the world to me.”

Paul loves the positive environment at Pen High as the staff are always helpful and her classmates are very friendly. Her favourite subjects include Math, Science and French. She excels scholastically with a grade point average of 95 per cent.

After a recent road trip with Paul’s OHA team, Lisa West, a Math teacher at Pen High, remarked: “I was struck by not only her hockey talent but also the respect shown to her by teammates and opposing players alike. Her eagerness to be taught Math, albeit at the hotel, in libraries or on the plane, testifies to her academic commitment. Above all, she and her teammates were incredible at thanking everyone: coaches, waitresses, hotel staff and me. They did OHA and Penticton proud.”     

Thanks to her focus, dedication and raw talent, Paul has experienced a meteoric rise since her minor hockey days. She is now shortlisted, at age 15, for selection to the Female U18 TeamBC for the 2019 Canada Winter Games. The final cuts are to be made next month here in Penticton.

And, of course, positioning herself to commit to Princeton, her ‘dream school’, with the prospects of a mind-expanding, life-changing experience is also impressive.

When asked why she selected Princeton over numerous other US universities, Paul soundly reasoned: “Well, I wanted elite education, first and foremost, and elite hockey. Princeton has both, along with a superb coaching staff, gorgeous small campus reminiscent of home and an attractive needs-based financial aid program for scholar-athletes.”

Despite her hectic schedule, Paul still finds time to give back to the game she loves.  Last summer, she helped out at a hockey camp for boys aged 10-12 in West Kelowna and at Lou Lemire Hockey Skills Camp in Summerland. She has also volunteered with the bag lunch program at Pen High and at various fundraisers to support school sports in West Kelowna.  

Sarah Paul’s success story serves as a textbook blueprint for how hard work, grit and self-belief can be harnessed to overcome any obstacles in the path to achieving lofty goals. Yet, her accomplishments to date, impressive as they are, only represent an early chapter in what promises to be a productive and rewarding life with many unchartered waters to be adeptly navigated along the way.