PROGRAM BACKGROUND
 
The purpose of the document is to provide a detailed description of the vision, purpose, and eligibility requirements relative to the Windsor Giants Scholarship program.  Elements contained in this program were first prepared by a sub-committed and subsequently reviewed and approved by the Windsor Giants youth football board of directors.  The Windsor Giants are a youth football program located in Windsor, CT and affiliated with the Eastern Connecticut Football Conference.  Consistent with the mission of the organization, the board has agreed to support a scholarship program to assist young adults in their pursuit of higher education.  The balance of this document will attempt to clarify the vision or ideal target recipients of this award, the eligibility requirements and the required on-going maintenance to help position the organization to grant such awards on an annual basis. 

PROGRAM VISION

The subcommittee began by developing an overall vision for the program.  The intent of the vision is to create a high level boundary describing the ideal candidate for this award and to ensure that future awards consistently reached the target recipients regardless of the changes in the volunteer organization.  The scholarship committee vision is to award annual scholarships to individuals who have significantly participated in the Windsor Giants organization, maintained a consistent level of academic excellence and have exhibited leadership qualities outside of the program.  In short our goal is to be able to financially assist some young men and women who have dedicated a portion of their childhood to Windsor Giants and have also found a way to excel both academically and socially.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Based on the vision defined above eligibility requirements are being established in three areas:  participation level, academic excellence and leadership qualities.  It is intended that eligible participants satisfy each successive category fully.  In other words, an eligible candidate must first satisfy the participation requirements, then the academic requirements before being evaluated for the leadership requirements.  As the first two categories are intended to be gatekeepers while the final leadership category will be used to differentiate applicants to find the ideal recipients.

Participation Level

 

1. Eligible candidates must have participated in 4 full season excluding injury and at 3 different levels or 4 full seasons at the A or B team levels.  The three levels of participation at can be obtained between the mighty mites, C team, B team, or A Team.
2. Participation includes rostered football players, cheerleaders, or in special cases ball boy / youth coach.  (Meaning player must have practiced with the team for a full season)

Academic Excellence

 

1. Candidate maintains a cumulative grade point average of a 80 or above during grades 10 through first semester of the senior year (12). 
2. Candidate is a Windsor town resident and attending a recognized Windsor School Board affiliated high school.  That is Windsor high school, a recognized magnet school, or area prep school (including private institutions).
3. Candidate must be attending some form of higher education such as college, university, technical, nursing or tertiary school
4. Applicants should include a copy of high school transcript at the time of submittal.

Leadership Qualities

 

1. Candidate must be able to demonstrate participation or volunteering in activities such as student government, religious or civic activities, and school social clubs or societies.
2. Candidates must include with application documentation of participation such as letters of reference.  Letters of reference should be limited to one page.

 
RULES AND REGULATIONS

The following rules and regulations are intended to govern the program to help ensure the program is sustainable for future generations.  These rules should be updated at least every three years by a committee appointed by the Windsor Giants board of directors. 

 

1. Awards are a one-time, non-renewable scholarship with no restrictions to race, color, creed, gender, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.
2. Award amounts and number of will be defined and approved by the Windsor Giants Board annually.
3. The scholarship will be apportioned to the recipient or recipients chosen by the scholarship committee or board approved designee.
4. The scholarship is intended to be used toward the first year tuition fees or books with payment being made either to the recipient or directly to the school of choice. Payment should be made to the school of choice.
5. Should the recipient find that for any reason he/she is unable to use the scholarship during the ensuing school year, the student forfeits all rights and funds are made available to support future scholarship awards.
6. All applicants must complete and return the application along with other defined supporting documentation by April 1 for awards issued in that calendar year.
7. Awards will be announced no later than May 30 of the issuing year.