SCHOLARSHIP STUDENT TO BRING NEW TEAM HOME

Posted 9 May 2002

A CANADIAN RUGBY scholar at the UK's largest institution of Higher Education for the land and food-based industries will be taking his teammates home with him this summer.

Manitoba man Ryan Georgison, 19, of Winnipeg, won the International Rugby Scholarship last year worth £20,000 (more than $45,000 Canadian at the current exchange rate) to study a BSc (Hons) Agricultural Engineering with Marketing and Management degree at Harper Adams University College, Shropshire.

Inspired by second row stalwart Georgison, who recently received an international cap for the Canadian U19 team's 45 - 3 win over the USA, Harper Adams will next month take a 42-man party on a rugby tour of Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta.

After a spell in Ontario, the team will arrive in Manitoba on June 26 and will kick off this leg of their tour with a game against Ryan's home team, the Sturgeon Creek Rowdies Rugby Club, on June 27. This will be followed by a match against the Manitoban provincial team on June 29 before the team moves on to Alberta.

Harper Adams' First XV has just completed its first season in the restructured Premier division of the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) competition, competing against the top twenty university sides in the UK.

With good results against universities up to ten times as large as Harper Adams, which has just 1,750 students, the giant-killing team finished in a comfortable mid-table position and with the addition of valuable international experience this summer, looks certain to improve next season.

This year, Harper Adams University College is offering four non-country specific international scholarships, worth £1,500 each, and two Canadian scholarships, worth up to £1,000 each, in addition to the International Rugby Scholarship, which grants exemption from all tuition fees - a total of almost £20,000 in value.

Staff from the tour party will be on hand to discuss the scholarship opportunities available, the range of courses on offer in subjects such as Agriculture, Biosciences, Business, Engineering and the Land, Countryside and Environment.

They will also highlight Harper Adams' one-year postgraduate Masters degree opportunities in International Agri-business, Food Quality Management, Animal Health and Crop Protection.

Harper Adams has an international reputation for the quality of its courses, graduates and research work and takes pride in fostering links with industry for project work, sandwich placements and consultancy that ensure all students gain both education and experience.

Harper Adams has excellent educational, student and sporting facilities, including a commercial farm, on a 700+ acre estate and benefits from links with institutions in Australia, Brazil, China, Europe and with Ohio State University in the USA.

For further information on the tour, scholarship opportunities or about Harper Adams University College in general, please contact Tour Manager Roger Davies on +44 (0) 1952 815 317 or E-mail rogerdavies@harper-adams.ac.uk

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