Wellington Pereira is among 15 students who were honored with a Scholar-Athlete Award this spring from the Howard Vandersea Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation. Recipients of this annual award are selected after being nominated by Maine football coaches.
Established in 1988, the Chapter’s primary mission is to promote amateur football at all competitive levels, in hopes of increasing both the number of schools and young men playing on the gridiron. Every year, a group of outstanding students who have brought honor to their respective schools are recognized at a dinner hosted expressly for this purpose.
While this year’s Scholar-Athlete Dinner was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, every student who was chosen is still being honored with the award. Bridgton Academy is pleased to announce that Wellington Pereira was one of this year’s recipients. Coach Rick Marcella reflects on what an integral member of the team he was this past year: “As I approach my 40th year of coaching, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some young men who were amazing athletes and even more amazing individuals. I can tell you this, and I’m including some great players here, no one player ever worked as hard at everything—every rep, every drill, every day—as Wellington Pereira. He’s a very impressive young man to say the least.” Wellington will be continuing his education and football career at Colby College in the fall. Congratulations, Wellington, on this wonderful achievement!