Langara National Scholar Award winner credits parents with giving him critical balance
His hard work and determination inspires his team
BY RICK GOODE
Langara Falcons player Kadyn Brown said while his father first got him into basketball, his dad always stressed the importance of balancing school and sports.
“My dad grew up playing [basketball], so when I was a kid, he would always have it on the TV and I kind of got drawn to that. Then I started playing and he took me out to the parks and stuff,” Brown said.
The balance his parents raised him with has paid off.
Brown isn’t just a star athlete, he is also a star student. His academic achievements were recently recognized with a National Scholar Award from the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association. Since 2004, the award has recognized academic excellence in student athletes across the country. To be eligible, students must achieve honours level grades while being a part of a registered sports team. This is the fifth consecutive year that Langara College students have won the award.
Creating the balance
His father, Eugene Brown, is not surprised his son is doing so well. He said that thanks to his mother, their son was reading from a young age with lots of time spent in the library. They stressed that sports should only be for fun, and that getting an education was the most important thing.
“I always told him school comes first, you know. Once you have an education you can do anything you want,” said Brown.
Brown said that even at an early age the teachers at his son’s elementary school asked him to help instruct his fellow students during their annual sports day.
“He used to be an organizer, you know, so when the other kids were playing soccer or something, he was there as a coach,” he said.
Becoming a key player
Those early leadership skills are evident now to his Langara team, so much so that men’s basketball team head coach Cassidy Kannemeyer said he has built some of the team’s plays around Brown.
“He’s like the epitome of what a student athlete is,” said Kannemeyer.
As centre of the Langara Falcons, Brown plays a pivotal role on the team.
“He’s a big communicator, a big anchor for our team,” said teammate Oliver Munt. “The ability he has to lead and make big time plays is pretty incredible.”
Giving back
Despite spending long hours in school and with his team, Brown still finds time to coach youth basketball as a way to give back to the community.
“I think it’s a good way to get to know the kids that are coming up from the area you came from,” he said. “I enjoy it in the moment.”
Brown was one of two Langara student to win the National Scholar Award this year.
The other winner was Maddie Murray from the women’s basketball team. Murray declined an interview.
Comments are closed.