The Pirate football team, fresh off its third consecutive Southern California Football Association Northern Conference title, has proven it can get the job done it the classroom as well. VC has landed 15 players on the SCFA Scholar-Athlete team, which leads the entire association. The next in line is Canyons with 14, then four teams each with seven honorees. This is the second time in four seasons that VC has led the SCFA in scholar-athlete selections.
Leading the way in the classroom for Ventura were three student athletes who have also been nominated for the state all-academic award, including Richard Leveille (3.89 GPA), Dre Jackson (3.84) and Jonathan Goldstein (3.60 GPA).
The other Pirates who earned at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average in the fall semester are Kendrick Bradley, Jake Colman, Sal Flores, Josh Govea, Colby Hayes, Manuel Hernandez, Darrian McIntyre, Tristian O'Dell, Conor Regan, Collin Root, Matt Younkers and Mark Zavala.
Student athletes participating in football at SCFA member schools are eligible for all-scholar athletic team qualification based upon the following criteria:
- Participation as an active member of a SCFA football team, with two seasons of participation at the collegiate level, or until forced out of competition by season-ending injury.
- Successful completion of a minimum 36 units-27 of which must be in academic (non-PE or sport activity) courses.
- Achievement of a minimum 3.0 (B) overall grade point average.