Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness is pleased to announce that the Brian Fitzpatrick Scholarship will be awarded for the first time in 2021.
The perpetually named sporting scholarship has been established to support an outstanding Sydney University Hockey Club player who is a student of The University of Sydney and a member of the Elite Athlete Program, made possible thanks to the generosity of club stalwart Brian Fitzpatrick.
Brian joined the men’s club in 1988 as a graduate from ANU, playing 507 games for the club. To this day, he remains the second highest goal scorer for the club (in both men and women at 192 goals). Brian is also a three-time premiership player with an expansive representative career as an Australian 45s player and with the NSW Men’s Masters.
Brian has also made a significant impact off the field. In addition to taking on several coaching and recruitment roles, he was the men’s social secretary in 1992, club treasurer in 1993 and Masters VP in 2019 and 2020.
Brian’s contribution also includes decades of advocacy for the construction of a hockey turf.
“I am a strong believer in the building of capital through growth assets (shares and property) and using the returns to reinvest in people,” he said.
Recently stepping down from the USSF Foundation Committee where he was a member for 10 years representing hockey, Brian helped to raise over $8m for a hockey pitch which culminated in the opening of the Bruce Pryor Hockey Field in 2018.
“I was heavily involved with raising these funds and I am now enjoying, along with the club, our fantastic facilities as a result of the Bruce and Jenny Pryor bequest,” he said.
On his contribution of a sporting scholarship, Brian says he is keen to see the club’s leading athletes being somewhat recompensed for the massive commitment that they make to their sport.
“I am hoping that funding this scholarship is just the start and will lead to further scholarships that will make it easier for the Olympic athletes of the future to study and play hockey at very high levels at Sydney University.”
Our sincere thanks to Brian for his kind contribution to sport at Sydney University.
If you’d like to know more about our Five by ’25 scholarships fundraising campaign, please visit: https://susf.com.au/support-us/.
