Women’s Beach Volleyball | March 01, 2022

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – USC Beach Volleyball All-American Julia Scoles (Mooresville, North Carolina) was named one of the first two recipients of the CalHOPE Courage Award presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press (AP) and CalHOPE, on Tuesday 1st March.

Scoles is one of two college student-athletes from California to be chosen for the top prize alongside Peter Andrewsmember of the Butte College baseball team.

This new awards program recognizes inspiring student-athletes from California colleges and universities who have shown courage in the face of adversity. CalHOPE is a crisis counseling and support resource for communities affected by public health emergencies or natural disasters, operated by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).

Scoles and Andrews will be recognized Thursday, March 10 in a virtual ceremony by the Governor’s Council on Fitness and Mental Wellness. The event, hosted by Premier Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, will bring together all 16 board members, including CalHOPE Courage Award Ambassador Ronnie Lott and other California sports legends Cheryl Miller, Brandi Chastainand Kristi Yamaguchi. Lott (football) and Miller (basketball) are each members of the USC Athletics Hall of Fame.

The CalHOPE Courage Award will honor two student-athletes each month who meet the award criteria, which may include mastering stress, anxiety, and mental trauma associated with personal difficulties, injuries, or life circumstances. , especially during the COVID public health emergency. At the end of each school year, two of the winners will be selected as annual CalHOPE Courage Award winners, and a donation will be made in their name to fund mental health services in their schools. Stories of all winners are available at CalHOPECourageAward.com and via social media on Twitter and Instagram at @CalHOPE_Courage.

“CalHOPE is honored to recognize statewide student-athletes like Julia and Peter who, despite setbacks, have overcome life’s challenges to continue to perform at their best as scholars and athletes. “, said Dr. Jim Kooler, special consultant in behavioral health for the DHCS. . “CalHOPE’s purpose is to build community resilience and help people recover from disasters through free outreach, crisis counseling and support services. This inspires us all.”

Scoles is a graduate student at USC’s Marshall School of Business, pursuing a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. At the start of his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina in 2017, Scoles suffered three serious concussions which led to myriad health issues including hyponatremia, vision problems, heart problems, spinal complications , etc These post-concussion syndrome ailments and accompanying mental trauma forced her to miss her second season, retire from indoor volleyball, and transfer to the University of Hawaii where she would play volleyball. Beach volleyball. She overcame these physical and mental obstacles to thrive on the sand, where she compiled an impressive 36-8 record, and in the classroom, where she earned her undergraduate degree. In the fall of 2020, Scoles transferred to USC, where she faced the challenges of COVID-19 as she established a new life, trained with her new team and bonded with new teammates. . Again, she adapted well, earning AVCA All-America honors and helping the Trojans win the 2021 NCAA Championship. She uses her experiences with traumatic brain injuries to educate others about the dangers associated with concussions. in athletics and the mental health issues associated with traumatic brain injury. Additionally, she shares her experience as a mentor with the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

“Concussions seemed to take everything away from me. Everything I knew about myself was stripped away. I lost my cheerful personality and my identity as a student, athlete and teammate. I was in the lowest emotional state,” Scoles says. . “Adversity is a teacher, but often we won’t understand until we’re on the other side. The lessons I learned from my injuries served me well when I transferred to the USC during COVID-19. When circumstances are out of your control, you need to focus on what you can control. For me, it was about intentionally connecting with friends through technology, making sure I doing home workouts every day, keeping a journal, and preparing nutritious meals. When the world stops, you don’t have to. Make a conscious effort to reframe the situation, find the bright side of things and making the most of your time will serve not only you, but also those around you. Our actions affect others, and I want to be a light to everyone I meet. In a year marked by the isolation, I chose to ensure that the interactions s that we have matter.”

Andrews joined the Butte College baseball team for the 2020-21 season after a tremendous career at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico, Calif. Her first year began when her father Stephen, captain of the Chico City Fire and Rescue Department, was diagnosed. with terminal cancer. Just a week before the end of his first season, his father died at age 53 from a brain tumor. In between, 19-year-old Andrews battled the stress and anxiety of his father’s illness, as well as several nagging injuries and the unusual circumstances of a COVID-shortened 26-game season. Still, he posted an impressive .303 batting average with 17 RBIs (RBI) in just 66 at-bats for a No. 2-ranked team in the state, won the 2021 Golden Valley Conference (GVC) championship. and finished 23-3 on aggregate. Andrews’ season was capped off with a second-team All-GVC nomination as the team’s starting right fielder. To combat the mental trauma, he fully engaged in family, school, and baseball. Andrews earned 49.5 credits, nearly double the typical course load, and earned a 3.66 grade point average. When he wasn’t studying or caring for his family, he worked in the batting cage, setting goals and pushing himself to overcome challenges.

“It was the worst year overall, but it helped me. I encountered so many challenges that I was not prepared for, but I was able to overcome each of the challenges step by step. Finding a way to overcoming challenges has made me a stronger person today,” Andrews said. “COVID-19 has allowed me to see my dad a lot more, but from a baseball perspective, we haven’t been able to fun as much as this year. With everything going on at home, more fun times with my teammates would definitely have helped me through the tough times.”

Sports information directors from all California colleges and universities are encouraged to nominate deserving intercollegiate student-athletes through April 2023 on CalHOPECourageAward.com. Winners will be selected by a panel of writers, editors and sports news directors from CoSIDA and AP. Fans can learn more and engage on social media on Twitter and Instagram at @CalHOPE_Courage.

Scoles and the No. 1-ranked USC beach volleyball team (1-0) opened the 2022 campaign with a 5-0 sweep of 15th-ranked Long Beach State last Thursday (February 24) and will play four games this weekend. -end (March 5-6) in the Battle For LA Invitational jointly hosted by USC and UCLA at Mapes Beach and Merle Norman Stadium,

For more USC Beach Volleyball team information, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/beach. Women of Troy fans can follow the team on Instagram and on Twitter @USCBeach.

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ABOUT CalHOPE

CalHOPE is a multi-level campaign to connect people with essential mental health and wellness resources and information to help them find their way through these difficult times. CalHOPE is a federally supported effort (Federal Emergency Management Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) that provides critical behavioral health crisis counseling programs to states and tribes after a federal declaration of emergency. CalHOPE uses a public health approach focused on strengths-based strategies to build resilience and connect people to the supports they need. CalHOPE resources can be accessed by calling the program’s warm line at (833) 317-HOPE (4673) or by visiting www.calhope.org.

ABOUT COSIDA

CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) was founded in 1957 and is a 3,000+ member national organization comprised of sports public relations, media relations, and communications/information professionals from all levels of the collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. The organization is the second oldest intercollegiate athletic management association. For more than 60 years, CoSIDA has recognized student-athletes through its All-America Academic Awards program. Approximately 5,000 student-athletes are recognized each year for their excellence in the classroom and in competition. To learn more, visit cosida.com.

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The AP is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, the AP is today’s most trusted source of independent news and information. Every day, more than half of the world’s population sees AP news. To learn more, visit www.ap.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Doug Drotman (631) 462-1198 / [email protected]