Recently, for the second year in a row, I met seventeen high school students - all Neighbourhood Heroes in my opinion, students who were nominated by their teachers as potential delegates to a four-day Rotary youth leadership conference.

Our job, the nine Rotarians in attendance, was to choose eight of the seventeen ... not an easy task.

One of those that wasn't chosen - because we felt he already had extraordinary leadership skills -- is today's Neighbourhood Hero.

"Marshall Noir is a very quiet, unassuming fellow who goes about working with other people in a competent way," said his principal Terry Ryan.

This young man is an excellent student -- "I have to work hard for my marks" -- as well as exceptional hockey player and all round athlete.

Last summer, he was invited to try out with the Junior A Coquitlam Express. After the main camp, the coaches told him he had a good chance of making the team but they also discussed the travel schedule and Marshall decided it was too extensive.

"It's hard to do four provincials each semester and play Junior A," he told me, "so I chose to come back to Nanaimo and continue playing Triple A Midget."

That statement alone makes this young man an extraordinary role model in my book, a Neighbourhood Hero. I wish he could spend a few hours with every young boy and girl who has chosen to let school take second place to their favorite sport.

Marshall's primary goal is to become a teacher.

"If I get a full course load at Malaspina next year, I'll probably play Junior B," he mused. "If I don't, I may play Junior A. We'll have to see what comes up."

In past years Marshall played a lot of different sports outside school and that took most of his time. Now in his final year, he has chosen to get more involved in his school community.

He's on the staring line of the school's volleyball team - he never played the sport before - he's on the student council, he's involved with a peer counseling program helping his fellow students and he has maintained excellent grades.

Of course he's still playing for the Nanaimo AAA Midget Clippers but he has also found time to be a mentor at Quaterway and Dufferin elementary schools and,

This young guy definitely has his sites set on being a teacher and as his principal, Terry Ryan, told me, he's going to be a good one.

When I asked about his personal Neighbourhood Heroes, Marshall listed three. His grandfather was the first.

"My grandfather was always behind me," he enthused. "He gave me lots of positive criticism both in hockey and in life and no matter what I put my mind to, he backed me up."

The other two people that came to mind were teachers.

"Mrs. Riddell was my teacher in Grades 8 and 9," he recalled. "She got me more into school and she always drove me to do my best. And then there is Mr. Owen. He is my volleyball coach and a career councilor. He's helped me more as a friend than a teacher."

Before we parted, Marshall also wanted to tell me about his parents.

"They never pushed me," he smiled. "They did it in a good way ... by helping me with any problems I had, by getting me extra help if I needed it, and by encouraging me to be the best I could be."

Wouldn't we all like our kids to say something like that about us?