50 The Queens Courier • kids & education • august 28, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com ▶ kids & education Sponsored by There’s more in store for you when you have a 5Star Credit Card. Apply today online at mynycb.com or call us at 1-888-550-9888 St. Francis Prep teen earns rare college sand volleyball scholarship BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com @LiamLaGuerre When you think of the best places to play beach volleyball, New York may not be the hottest choice on the list. But that never stopped St. Francis Preparatory School volleyball player Stephanie Bogda from loving the game. Bogda, who plays both indoor and outdoor volleyball, was attracted to the sand version after watching some women in Long Beach play when she was 11. For two years, she would return occasionally to the beach to watch the players and ask for tips about the game, until eventually they asked her to play. Now Bogda, 17, who has trained and competed for years in sand volleyball, earned a four-year scholarship with Division I University of New Orleans to play sand volleyball, despite the long odds, being from a state where the temperature gets to be near freezing for half of the year. She recently verbally committed to the school. “We’re extremely proud of her because she had to overcome a lot,” said Bogda’s mother, Patricia. “She has had to sacrifice a lot while her friends were playing. She always had this goal and she would never let anything stop her.” Beach volleyball, which has two players per team rather than six, has been on a wave of growth that stems from the Beijing Olympics, according to many published reports. The NCAA added Division I sand volleyball to its list of varsity programs in 2011. Now, more than 40 NCAA fouryear schools sponsor the sport, according Smart Student BANKING1 > Absolutely Free Student Checking •No minimum balance •No per check fee •No monthly maintenance fee > Free unlimited ATM transactions at NYCB locations > Free VISA®CheckCard > Free Direct Deposit > Free On-line Banking with Free Bill Pay† > 24 Hour Bank by Phone > Convenience •Over 140 locations in NY and NJ •Extended branch banking hours •Supermarket banking •7 day-a-week banking at many locations > Pre-Paid Solutions •VISA® Gift Card •Pre-Paid Long Distance •Pre-Paid MasterCardTM •Pre-Paid Wireless Service •MetroCards Open your Student Checking2 Account today and enjoy: • NO MINIMUM BALANCE FEE • NO PER-CHECK FEE • NO MONTHLY SERVICE FEE Free ▪ Unlimited transactions at NYCB ATMs ▪ Visa® check card ▪ Direct Deposit ▪ Online Banking and Bill Pay3 with e-Statements Convenience ▪ Over 175 locations in NY and NJ ▪ Extended branch banking hours ▪ 24-hour bank by phone ▪ 7 day-a-week banking at many locations For more information call 718-448-7272 or visit www.myNYCB.com Be sure to ask about our Smart Student Savings Account too! †For your online security, information will be verified by the Bank. Once the verification process is complete, your Free Online Banking & Free Bill Pay account will be activated and ready for you to use. No monthly services charges apply. A separate fee applies for optional services such as Money HQ. Please talk to a branch representative or ask for our fee schedule for more details. © New York Community Bank. Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender to the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Bogda continues to play indoor volleyball on travel teams and with St. Francis Prep. But during the summer she partakes in sand volleyball competitions in other states. She also has a rigorous daily training schedule that includes running, two-hour conditioning and personal mentoring from professional sand players, including Brazilian Priscilla Lima. Besides volleyball, Bogda likes to draw and paint in her free time, so she believes she will major in art at the University of New Orleans. But of course she has her eyes set on becoming a professional volleyball player and perhaps playing in a future Olympics. With a year remaining before college games begin, Bogda plans to work harder than ever to prove when she steps in the sand in New Orleans that she belongs there. “I’m going to spend a lot of this year on the beach,” Bogda said. “People say, ‘Oh, you’re committed, you can relax now.’ Absolutely not. I need to be ready for college.” (877) 786-6560 • myNYCB.com 1Student Banking is available for personal accounts only and is free of maintenance and activity fees. 2Student Checking Accounts with a Visa® check card are automatically enrolled in the Even >more Rewards Program. For complete terms and conditions speak with a branch representative. Restrictions apply. 3No monthly service charges apply. A separate fee applies to optional services such as Money HQ®. Please talk to a branch representative or ask for our fee schedule for more details. Bank is not responsible for typographical errors. ©2014 New York Community Bank- Member FDIC Equal Opportunity Lender Stephanie Bogda
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