Athletic greatness; a dream shared by so many. However, some people are not content with letting their dreams be dreams and wish to turn them into reality. There are many who know from a young age that they want to dedicate themselves to their goal of athletic success, and start working towards their dreams early in life. But eventually, many young athletes find that their academic life interferes with their ability to pursue their sporting careers. It is all too common to find that a playoff game conflicts with an important exam, or that tournaments mean time out of town and away from school, or that there simply is no time for regular practice when a typical school schedule is followed. Here at Ontario Virtual School, we have heard this from many of our students, and we are glad that they found us, a school that was able to accommodate them and allow them to pursue their dreams.
UNLOCK YOUR POTENTIAL WITH OVS NCAA CONSULTING
At OVS, we specialize in empowering elite athletes to ascend to the next level of their careers. Our NCAA consulting department is dedicated to ensuring that you navigate the eligibility process with confidence, helping you meet the stringent requirements for NCAA eligibility and the 16 Core course requirements.
Our team understands the intricacies of this process and is committed to guiding you every step of the way. From ensuring your coursework aligns with NCAA standards to maintaining the necessary GPA, we provide comprehensive support.
Embarking on your NCAA journey can be complex, especially as a Canadian student. With OVS by your side, you can rest assured that you’ll receive personalized guidance until you step foot onto your chosen university campus. We’re here to support you from enrollment to graduation and beyond.
Of course, for students whose pathways may not involve the NCAA, Ontario Virtual School’s counsellors are also prepared to help you earn acceptance to any other program you may be aiming for. Whatever your goals, OVS is here to help.
FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES
The life of a high-performance athlete can be quite unpredictable and irregular. Games, competitions, and practice sessions might not always be at a regular time and place. If you’re lucky and skilled and practiced enough, you might find yourself invited to a tournament or competition, and these events could interfere with your school.
The last thing any student athlete wants is to have to choose between their sport and their school, merely because they’re both scheduled at the same time. Sometimes the particular events might not be at the exact same time, but there can still be interference, like if an important series happens to fall just before or during an exam period. Though students can technically make it to all the events, they may not be left with enough time for both practice and study.
Luckily, Ontario Virtual School offers a solution to this predicament. When students enroll with OVS, they find that they can complete courses at their own paces. All lessons can be viewed and reviewed at any time, and assignments can be completed whenever students find the time. So long as the course is completed within twelve months, then students can take breaks, schedule their own work, and leave themselves free to pursue both academics and athletics, without worrying about any scheduling conflicts.
TAKE YOUR COURSES WITH YOU
Travel is a fact of life for high-performance athletes. Once you reach a high enough level, local competition simply can’t match up, and you have to travel further and more often to continue building your skills and your career. However, this creates an obvious conflict with the traditional school system. Commonly, being away from the school building means being unable to attend classes. Though schools may try to accommodate by giving homework in advance or allowing certain things to be rescheduled, these accommodations can only go so far. In the end, students are still missing class, and perhaps missing important tests and assignments.
Of course, the modern world offers an obvious solution to this problem. With online school, students can attend class from anywhere in the world. An away game in the evening no longer means that you will have to miss school that day. A week-long tournament doesn’t have to mean you miss a week of classes. With Ontario Virtual School, students can simply log on from wherever they may be. In fact, it can be a great way to make use of downtime. A long trip on a bus, train, or airplane can be the perfect time to take in some lessons and make progress on a few assignments, and knowing you’re getting some work done can be a great way to be productive during what may otherwise be a boring ride.
TRAIN AROUND THE WORLD, GET AN ONTARIO DIPLOMA
With well over a decade of experience, Ontario Virtual School has a history of helping athletes graduate and find success. In fact, we have partnered with various elite training facilities and sports organizations, to ensure that their young athletes are able to earn their education while still practicing and participating at the level that their skills and talents allow.
Some of these partner organizations include Nordic Hockey Academy and the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League, among others. You may notice that these are both outside of Ontario. Sometimes, high-performance athletes find that the best way to continue their training is to join programs that may be far away from home. Moreover, students from other provinces want the Ontario Diploma so that they can have an easier time applying to Ontario universities. Attending a excellent university program is a great way for many student athletes to continue their career, a post-secondary level sports are often a stepping stone to better things. With OVS, students can train around the world, but still receive a first-rate Ontario education and diploma.
RECORD OF SUCCESS
You don’t need to take our word for it. Many OVS students have gone on to sporting success. The following is just a short, inexhaustive list of a few recent examples.
Kartik Singh is a young golfer who won 1st Place at the 2023 FCG Callaway World Championships, then 3rd Place at the 2023 US Junior Amateur Golf Championship. Now 14 years old, he still has a very promising career ahead of him, but the travel needed to make it to these championships would make attending a traditional school very difficult. As such, he has enrolled with OVS, and is taking his school with him on his travels.
Brooke McIntosh is a pair skater who won the Bronze Medal at the 2022 NHK Trophy competition, and then the Silver Medal at the 2023 Canadian National competition. The great deal of practice required for this sport, not to mention the travel required for the global-level competitions, made the flexibility of OVS the obvious choice for her.
Summer McIntosh, Brooke’s younger sister, also has an impressive and illustrious sporting career of her own. She is a full-time student OVS and she will be attending the 2024 Paris Olympics as part of Team Canada! At just 17 years old, this will be Summer’s second Olympics, having attended Tokyo in 2020 at just 14.
This past week, during the Olympic trials, Summer broke her own previously establish world records in the 400m Individual Medley event! She also earned gold in the 200m Butterfly, coming in under the Olympic qualifying time at 2 minutes 4.33 seconds.
Of course, we at OVS are very honoured to have such an amazing athlete among our alumni.
In addition to Summer, Brooke and Kartik, Nathan Gaucher was a 1st Round Draft Pick for the Anaheim Ducks, 2022. Even before that time, he had already proven himself a champion, joining Team Canada and earning two Gold Medals in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Maveric Lamoureux was 1st Round Draft Pick for the Arizona Coyotes in 2022, signing a three-year contract with the team. He currently is a prospect for the new Utah NHL team in the upcoming 2024 season.
For students who dream of being high-performance athletes, balancing their academic and athletic lives can be difficult, but many have found Ontario Virtual School to be the solution they needed. If you or someone you know may be in a similar situation, you can learn more about OVS here.