TORONTO – After panel review, the Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) is thrilled to announce the winners of its two journalism student scholarships for 2023.

The organization would like to congratulate Emma Kelly, heading into her fourth year at Carleton University in Ottawa, and Matt DeMille, heading into his fourth year at Mount Royal University in Calgary, as this year’s recipients. 

“I am honoured to be selected as one of the GJAC scholarship recipients," said Kelly. "Sports have been a part of my life since the beginning, and I am so fortunate to be able to write about topics that I love. This scholarship will go a long way in helping with education and equipment costs.” 

"I'm incredibly honoured to be selected as a recipient for the GJAC Journalism Scholarship. Early on in my post-secondary career I took a chance on myself and followed a career path that I was most passionate towards instead of taking a route that was traditionally easier," said DeMille. "Looking back now, I'm grateful that I put trust in my deeply-rooted passion for sports journalism and I'm incredibly excited for what's to come."

The scholarships are awarded to students in the midst of their undergraduate collegiate or university journalism programs who have sports-industry aspirations and have demonstrated excellence in sports journalism. Funding for the awards is made possible thanks to the generous support of SCOREGolf and Dan and Laura Keogh.

Multi-year GJAC Media Award winner and Canadian golf analyst Adam Stanley led an esteemed panel of GJAC members as the scholarship coordinator. Kelly and DeMille were unanimous selections. 

“On behalf of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada, we are excited to announce Emma and Matt as this year’s journalism scholarship recipients. While we had many worthy applicants, the work of our two winners was extra impressive,” Stanley said. “We would like to thank all applicants for their efforts, and the generous sponsors who allow GJAC to continue to recognize the next generation of journalists. It’s special to see how motivated young writers and content creators are to continue to work in our field.”  

Established in 2006, part of GJAC’s mandate is to promote golf journalism in Canada and recognize excellence in Canadian golf journalism. The focus of these scholarships is to encourage excellence in sports writing by student journalists across the country.

Applications for next year's GJAC scholarships will open in early 2024.