In this photo: Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, a forward with the NBA’s Boston Celtics, is speaking at the TRU WolfPack’s athletic scholarship breakfast on Thursday, Sept. 25. Tickets are still available. Bill Baptist/NBAE
It takes a village to raise a child.
For Kelly Olynyk, that village was Kamloops.
Olynyk, son of Thompson Rivers University athletics director Ken Olynyk and a centre with the NBA’s Boston Celtics, will deliver a keynote address at the TRU WolfPack’s athletic scholarship breakfast on Thursday, Sept. 25.
The talk will be based on the idea that it takes a village to raise a child, or, in Olynyk’s case, an athlete.
“I’m just trying to come back to Thompson Rivers University and give back to them,” Olynyk told KTW last week in a call from Boston, where he was training for Celtics camp, which opens on Monday, Sept. 29.
“In my lifetime, being out there as a young student, a young player, they’ve done so much for me in helping me get to where I am and giving me opportunities to play and get better.”
Olynyk said the keynote will be based on his personal experiences. He will talk about the things that have helped him in his life both on and off the court.
He hopes to be able to draw attention to the little things people do for a community and its athletes — those which don’t often stand out or make the headlines.
Olynyk said he will also talk about the importance of living in the present and enjoying life in the moment.
Prior to his time with Boston, Olynyk was on a full-ride scholarship, playing for the NCAA Division 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs.
The 23-year-old said he was blessed to have his costs covered when he was with Gonzaga and acknowledged that isn’t the case for the vast majority of athletes playing in Canada.
It’s a reality he said makes the experience of returning home to Kamloops and lending his name to the WolfPack’s scholarship breakfast all the more special.
“It [Kamloops] has been such a vital part to my life,” Olynyk said.
“Like the talk says, you need a village to raise a child and they definitely have been a major contributor to my success and getting me to where I am today.
“I know how important scholarships are,” Olynyk continued, “giving that opportunity to kids who maybe wouldn’t have that opportunity if those things weren’t there.”
As a student-athlete who had his ups and downs with Gonzaga — he was mostly a bench player in his freshmen and sophomore years, before red-shirting as a junior to improve his game and get stronger — Olynyk said he hopes to impart the importance of working hard and persevering to any WolfPack athletes who might be in attendance.
“Life’s not going to be easy,” he said. “It’s the hard things that are the most worthy and the most satisfying at the end.
“Everyone is going to hit adversity, whether it’s one shape, one form, or another. It’s the people who bounce back and get up after they’ve been knocked down, those are the toughest people to play against or the toughest people in the world or the most successful people in the world.”
Tickets are still available for the athletic scholarship breakfast. For more information, call 250-828-5264 or email advancementevents@tru.ca.
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