Gelaine Orvik Scholarship Nomination

The NDHSCA-Gelaine Orvik $1,000 scholarship honors a North Dakota High School Graduating Senior, who will attend a North Dakota College or University with the intention of becoming a High School Coach. The Scholarship will be awarded for the first time in 2013.

The NDHSCA-Gelaine Orvik $1,000 Scholarship was established in 2008 when Joe Howell, Lisbon High School Track & Field Coach made a motion to establish the scholarship to honor Gelaine Orvik. Coach Orvik is a 35-year veteran coach who has also served the North Dakota High School Coaches Association since 1974. As a gesture to enhance his motion, Coach Howell made an initial donation of $100 to establish this Scholarship Fund. The Scholarship Recipient will be a student-athlete who best exemplifies the values and ideals modeled by Coach Orvik, as teacher and coach; those values and ideals he expected from his athletes and students; and those values, ideals and principles he urges all coaches to portray.

The Scholarship

The NDHSCA-Gelaine Orvik $1,000 Scholarship Fund has been enhanced by other donations from coaches, coaches’ friends and sportswear companies. Extraordinary donations are made annually by coaches as they register for the Annual NDHSCA Convention and/or for Annual NDHSCA Membership. Universal Athletics has made a concerted effort to readily donate at the Annual Taco Social at the NDHSCA Convention. Some coaches have made the Scholarship Fund a recipient as a memorial for friends and relatives. SUBWAY will also make an annual $1,000 donation for a second NDHSCA-Gelaine Orvik $1,000.00 Scholarship each year.

Both NDHSCA-Gelaine Orvik $1,000 Scholarships will be awarded annually at the NDHSCA Hall of Fame/NDHSCA Coach of the Year Banquet to graduated North Dakota High School Students who will be attending a North Dakota College or University. The $1,000 check will be made payable to the recipient and the selected College or University. The recipient of the scholarship will be determined by the NDHSCA Executive Committee who will serve as the evaluation committee. Factors to be considered by the evaluation committee will include, but will not be limited to, information from the Application Form:

Academic performance (GPA)
Class Rank
Athletic Letter Awards
Activity Awards
ACT Test score
SAT Test score (if taken)
Captains’ Role and/or Leadership Roles
Scholarship Applicant’s Application Letter
Two Letters of Recommendation; at least one from a high school coach
A Letter of Recommendation from a high school administrator

The NDHSCA-Gelaine Orvik Scholarship

The Nomination Process:

The nomination must be made by a NDHSCA Member. The Nomination Form must have a letter of
recommendation from an athletic coach accompany the form and sent before March 10.
1. Letters of Recommendation must detail the coach’s evaluation of the nominee’s athletic ability,
  coachability, character, sportsmanship, leadership and citizenship.
2. The coach’s Letter of Recommendation must also detail those values and ideals expected in athletes
  by Coach Orvik
  1. Great practice habits
  2. 120% effort at all times
  3. The importance of development and accomplishment
  4. Willingness to sacrifice individuality for team
  5. Team togetherness and cohesiveness
  6. Respect for opponents
  7. Honor for coaches and superiors
  8. Scholastic ability and achievement
  9. Classroom performance and conduct
3. The Administrator’s Letter of Recommendation must verify that the student-athlete has not been
  suspended from any sport, activity or school during his or her attendance
The nominee must have high moral values, excellent academic standards and an admirable work ethic.
Nomination Form must be completed and submitted online.
Coaches’ Letters of Recommendation and administrator’s Letter of Recommendation must be sent to
the NDHSCA Office by e-mail or USPS and be received on-line or postmarked before March 10.
An official certified transcript issued after the completion of the current school year’s first semester must be sent in a sealed envelope and postmarked before March 10 or received by electronic message.
The Applicant’s Application Letter and Application Form must be sent on-line before March 10.

Coach Gelaine Orvik

Coach Orvik led the Fargo South High School Bruins for thirty years as Track & Field head coach. During that time South High School won six outdoor state championships and three official state sponsored indoor championships. Orvik’s philosophy of Bruin’s Track and Field boasts a tradition of large numbers of participants – usually about 125 boys from grades 9-12 competed each year. Every athlete knew the importance of his performance and of his teammates and made teamwork the driving force in the program. Coach Orvik orchestrated a similar program while he was head cross-country coach for the Bruins. The cross-country runners were committed to being the strongest and best prepared athletes through dedication to hard work. This preparation led the Bruins to the school’s first Cross-Country State Championship in 1985.

Mr. Orvik is a graduate of Kloten (ND) High School and Mayville State University. He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Education with a double major in English and Physical Education. Orvik retired from teaching in 2001 after completing his 36th years as an educator (teacher/coach) in North Dakota with 33 of those years spent at Fargo South High School. Coach Orvik had a burning desire for every student, athlete, and cohort to succeed. He has led North Dakota Coaches with that same drive and enthusiasm to succeed the right way (with class and professionalism).

Numerous awards and honors have been bestowed on Mr. Orvik ranging from his, community, church, school and university. In May 2005 Fargo Public Schools named the track at Fargo South High School Orvik Track. The ceremony marked Gelaine’s final chapter at Fargo South High as his academic and athletic achievements were summed up by the following quote. “The athletic track was named after Orvik, but his interactions with the students were his real legacy.”