NEW YORK, May 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For
millions of high school students across the country, a deep-rooted
commitment to sports can potentially provide far more than just a
line of accomplishment on a college application.
Florida senior Leesa Greenwood would know. By the time Leesa
turned 18, she had lost both her parents, experienced homelessness,
and was responsible for caring for her younger sister. Throughout
her turbulent upbringing, Leesa maintained one constant—
basketball. On the court, Leesa used her deep love for the game as
a means of finding solace, excelling in her studies, expressing
herself, and honoring her basketball-loving father.
"The Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program celebrates and honors
outstanding students like Leesa who have taken the skills they've
acquired through sports and applied them to excel academically and
become leaders within their communities," states Richard A. Johnson, President & Chief
Executive Officer, Foot Locker, Inc. "We recognize the
tremendous potential of our 20 winners and are deeply committed to
providing unique educational opportunities to empower today's youth
to succeed."
The program, which is a vital part of the Foot Locker
Foundation, Inc., honors twenty outstanding student-athletes who
demonstrate exceptional academic ability and strong leadership
skills in sports, school and within their communities with
$20,000 to support their college
dreams. Supporting this all-star program is Fastweb, a
trusted scholarship and financial aid resource used by students to
help find opportunities to pay for school.
Today, the Foundation announces this year's twenty recipients.
In addition, the Foundation is proud to announce the recipient of
the newly introduced Ken. C. Hicks Scholarship, an additional
$5,000 scholarship (for a total of
$25,000) awarded to one of the twenty
inductees, in honor of the organization's former Chairman and CEO.
North Carolina high school senior, Shivraj Sandhu, took home the award for
exemplifying elevated academic achievement, personal passion, and a
true love of the game.
High school students and their families are faced with the
skyrocketing costs of higher education today. Many talented
students are hindered in their pursuit of college dreams by the
significant financial burden associated with a college education.
Last year, the average cost of a private, four-year, not-for-profit
university was $31,231— an expense
that could eat into two-thirds of the household income for the
median U.S. family1.
The availability of scholarship programs, such as the Foot
Locker Foundation's, can make a real difference in the
affordability of a college education. This year's twenty
winners will join the program's four previous classes of Foot
Locker Scholar Athletes, which results in 100 total scholarship
recipients over the five years since the program's inception in
2011. With our 2016 Class, the Foot Locker Foundation will have
invested $2 million in the education
and future of some of America's most promising
scholar-athletes.
Winner
Name
|
Hometown
|
Sport
|
Accomplishments
|
Evan
Routhier
|
Mequon, WI
|
Track,
Hockey
|
- Bassist at Carnegie
Hall Chamber Concert
- Recipient of South
Korea-US Youth Network Fellowship
|
Tevin
Skeete
|
Saint Albans,
NY
|
Volleyball,
Basketball
|
- Participant in the
prestigious CUNY Gateway Program
- Tutors middle
school students
|
Leesa
Greenwood
|
Fort Walton Beach,
FL
|
Basketball, Flag
Football
|
- Coaches an
inner-city Basketball team
- Captain of the
Varsity Basketball Team
|
Mary Kaitlyn
Wheeler
|
Adrian, GA
|
Track
|
- State Champion in
three wheelchair events
- Future Farmers of
America Local Chapter and State-wide Leader
|
Jesus
Valenzuela
|
Tucson, AZ
|
Basketball
|
- Works with
non-profit Youth On Their Own to mentor immigrant youth who's
parents have been deported
- Captain of Varsity
Basketball Team
|
Shivraj
Sandhu
|
Wilson, NC
|
Soccer,
Tennis
|
- Founder of Charity
(L)earn of NC to provide technical equipment for low income
communities
- Disaster relief
coordinator for his community
|
Abbie
Nelson
|
Holdredge,
NE
|
Softball
|
- Created her own
charity "Giving Gloves" that provides sports equipment to Dominican
Communities
- DARE (Drug Abuse
Resistance Education) Role Model
|
Bailey
Schott
|
Danville,
NH
|
Basketball,
baseball
|
- Leader of Project
Hope initiatives, a cancer support organization
- Leader of varsity
baseball and basketball teams
|
Victoria
Powell
|
Mableton,
GA
|
Track,
Basketball
|
- US Junior Track
Olympian
- Leader of
community-wide initiatives to promote diversity and
inclusion
|
Cristabel Otero
Castaneda
|
San Diego,
CA
|
Track,
Swimming
|
- Created Girls in
STEM conference to encourage low-income, minority girls to get
involved in STEM
- Founder of the FULL
Project to provide meals for students who need them outside of
school hours
|
JoeShawn
Head
|
Chicago,
IL
|
Track, Archery,
Fencing, Swim
|
- President, YWCA
Sexual Assault Support Group
- Student Body Vice
President and Class President
|
Arshia
Sabir
|
Reseda, CA
|
Volleyball
|
- US Congressional
Award for Community Service
- International
Genius Olympiad Winner
|
Dallin
Bentley
|
South Jordan,
UT
|
Soccer, Lacrosse,
Wrestling
|
- Taught English and
distributed books in Cusco, Peru as part of an Eagle Scout
project
- Volunteer for
Special Needs Mutual (activities for youth and adults with
disabilities)
|
Gile
Alimasi
|
New Caney,
TX
|
Football,
Soccer
|
- Participant in the
National Bezos Scholars Program
- Co-founder of
Momentum, an organization that increases low-income students access
to college
|
Logan
Roberts
|
Shenandoah,
IA
|
Football, Wrestling,
Track
|
- Varsity Football
Captain
- All-State Choir and
Marching Band
|
Jia Yi
Li
|
Portland,
OR
|
Basketball,
Tennis
|
- Created "Stop the
Trade," an anti-sex trafficking organization and
movement
- President of the
Red Cross Youth Council
|
Ku'ulei
Osako
|
Sacramento,
CA
|
Soccer,
Volleyball
|
- Captain of the
Varsity Soccer Team
- Youth soccer coach
for low income students
|
Cooper
Barghols
|
Oro Valley,
AZ
|
Football,
Golf
|
- Started his own 501
(c)3 public charity called "Coop's Clan" to provide athletic
outlets for cancer patients
- President's
Academic Achievement Gold Award
|
Joanna
Muniz
|
South Richmond Hill,
NY
|
Soccer, Lacrosse,
track
|
- President of
Positive Behavior Intervention Support— mentorship organization
that encourages positive behaviors in low income
students
- Student Body
President
|
Olive
Umeh
|
Bronx, NY
|
Track, Volleyball,
Softball
|
- Captain of the
Varsity Volleyball Team
- HS Law institute at
Columbia University School of Law participant
|
To read more on these incredible winners, visit:
https://footlockerscholarathletes.com/
About Foot Locker Foundation:
Founded in 2001, Foot
Locker Foundation is the charitable arm of Foot Locker, Inc., a
specialty athletic retailer that operates approximately 3,400
stores in 23 countries in North
America, Europe,
Australia and New Zealand. Since its inception, the
Foundation has developed significant partnerships, programs, and
initiatives to improve and enrich communities across the country.
Our mission is to promote a better world for today's youth by
creating, developing, and supporting innovative educational
programs and encouraging health and well-being through physical
activity.
About Fastweb:
Fastweb, a top site in the Monster
Worldwide (NYSE:MWW) network, is the nation's recognized leader in
helping students pay for school, by providing scholarship and
financial aid information, as well as information on jobs and
internships. One out of three college-bound seniors use the site,
and more than 50 million users have benefitted from Fastweb's
information and services. Fastweb lets students create personalized
profiles that can be matched against its expansive databases of
colleges and scholarships. As the oldest and most popular free
online scholarship matching service, the database has more than 1.5
million scholarships totaling over $3.4
billion. To learn more about Fastweb, visit www.fastweb.com
and follow Fastweb on social media for the latest on paying for
school all year long: Twitter (at @PayingForSchool); Facebook;
Pinterest; Google+.
1 CBS News
(http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/16/why-college-costs-are-so-high-and-rising.html)
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160503/363251
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foot-locker-foundation-unveils-recipients-of-fifth-annual-foot-locker-scholar-athletes-program-300262361.html
SOURCE Foot Locker Foundation, Inc.