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The Michigan High School Athletic Associtation Scholar-Athlete Award

Twenty-eight $1,000 Scholarships for Michigan Student-Athletes

Sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance

Where can applications be obtained?
Scholar-Athlete Award applications are available on the MHSAA Web site for downloading, or on the MHSAA CD-ROM sent to member schools in August.

What is the best way to generate applications for the Scholar-Athlete Award?
Schools which have had numerous applicants year after year identify those students who have an unrounded 3.50 grade point average and have earned at least one varsity letter in their sport. The schools then contact tthese students about applying.

Can our school only submit an application for one student in each sport?
Yes.

What if I have more than one applicant in a single sport?
See if those applicants have previously won a varsity letter in another sport,and if there is no longer a conflict, have the applicant apply in that sport.

If I still have more than one applicant in that sport, how do we select our applicant?
Have someone review the applications of those applicants and select, in their opinion, the best one to represent your school. Do not submit more than one application in a sport to the MHSAA Office–both will be returned, or you will be called and asked to select one applicant for that sport!

What if a student is out for a sport for the first time as a senior, can he or she apply in that sport?
No.

What if the student is not going out for that sport as a senior, but has previously won a varsity letter in the sport. Can he or she apply?
Yes.

What if the sport has not been offered at your school prior to the student's senior year for circumstances beyond the school's and student's control?
Under those circumstances, students have been allowed to apply in the past.

Can we submit an application in Girls Competitive Cheer if the student is a sideline cheerleader or pom pon or dance team member and has not participated in Competitive Cheer?
No. Your school must be sponsoring Girls Competitive Cheer and be eligible for the MHSAA tournament in that sport.

Our school is an all boys/girls school. Can we have two applicants in a sport offered to both genders?
No.

A student has a 3.48 GPA. Can we round it up to 3.5 for the purposes of applying?
No.

Could a student team manager apply for the award?
Yes, provided you have awarded the youngster a varsity letter in the sport based on your local criteria, and the individual is designated your applicant in that sport.

May a student apply in more than one sport?
Yes, provided the student is your only applicant in each sport. A separate application package is necessary for each sport in which a student applies.

If a student applies in more than one sport, do separate essays and recommendation letters need to be submitted for each sport?
Yes, a complete application package (Application, Letters of Recommendation and Essay) must be submitted for each sport. However, new and different essays and recommendations are not necessary; using clean copies of the original will suffice. It is recommended that any sport references in the letters and essay be the same as the sport listed on the application. For example, if a student is applying in basketball first and soccer second, the letters and essay could reference both sports. However, it may work against an applicant if the application is for soccer and the sport referred to in the letter and essay is basketball.

If a girl is participating on a boys team, and there are MHSAA tournaments offered for both boys and girls in that sport (i.e. basketball, cross country, golf, skiing, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field), can she apply in that boys sport?
Yes. The sport in which the youngster applies for the Scholar-Athlete Award should be the same as the MHSAA tournament in which that individual would compete. For example, if a girl is swimming or diving on a boys team and can only qualify for the MHSAA tournament in that season, then she would have to apply for the award in Boys Swimming and Diving. Likewise, a girl playing on a boys golf team in the fall must apply for the award in Boys Golf, and so on.

Can a student win more than one scholarship?
No. However, a student may be a finalist in more than one sport if he or she has not already won a scholarship (i.e., a fall scholarship recipient is not eligible for winter or spring consideration).

Please walk me through Attachment #2 (the form for listing extracurricular activities).
The idea behind the form is to indicate the quality of the extracurricular activities an applicant has been involved in, not the quantity of activities.

Under Athletics, please list the sports played and then indicate the level played in the boxes (i.e. “9” for the freshman team, “JV” for junior varsity and “V” for varsity participation). Any awards or comments should be limited to varsity competition.

Under Student Government, Music, Drama, Speech and Other Non-Classroom School Activities, list the significant programs the applicant has been involved in after the school day is over. Do not list participation in activities if they are requirements for a class.

Under Community Activities, list those programs in which the applicant participates on a sustained basis.

Under Employment, if an applicant holds a job during the school year or works in an area related to their athletic participation or career goals, this is helpful information for the judging committee.

On Attachment #3, the questions are designed to look at the lessons learned while participating in high school sports and other out-of-classroom activities. The applicant is limited to that form. Do not attach additional information to the form.

May we attach copies of transcripts, awards, newspaper or magazine articles or brochures about our school to the application for the judge's review?
No.

When submitting an application, is there an order in which we should put each piece of information?
Yes. Put the forms in the following order:
1. Application (Attachments 1-3)
2. Letters of Recommendation (No more than two)
3. Essay

Is there a limit on the length of the letters of recommendation?
Yes. A letter may be no longer than two pages. Letters submitted longer than two pages will void the application.

What will happen if we attach additional forms and more than two letters of recommendation?
All additional materials will be discarded.

Can someone writing a letter of recommendation for an applicant send it directly to the MHSAA office?
No. It must be attached to the application at the time it is submitted.

What else can you tell us about preparing an application?
Be sure that all parts of the application are neat and clean. The judges downgrade any part of an application which is hand-written, especially if hand-written corrections are made to a letter or essay.

Explain the internal school deadline of the Monday before Thanksgiving.
That deadline is a local option you may tell students if you wish to do so. It was designed to give schools a cushion between when students have to submit applications and when they must arrive in the MHSAA office. It was also designed to help schools address duplicate entries in a single sport and to help students fine-tune their applications if they desire.

When sending in our applications, why do they need to all be in one envelope?
With over 3,000 applications anticipated, to have them all come in separately would create a great hardship for those assigned to deal with them when they arrive in the MHSAA office. It also protects the integrity of the process.

When sending in your applications, the form listing all of your applicants must be included. What if the School Applicant List is not submitted with the applications?
If MHSAA staff discovers the absence of the School Application List from a school's envelope, staff will make an immediate attempt to contact the athletic director of that school via telephone, with that school to submit the School Application List by Noon (EST) the following business day, or those applications will not be accepted for judging purposes. The students, however, will be recognized as applicants.

What if a student wants to submit an application in a sport in which we have an opening, but we've already mailed the packet with the applicant list and the other applications?
All applications for your school must be submitted in one mailing. No exceptions will be allowed.

What if application envelopes are postmarked on or before the deadline, but are received after that date at the MHSAA office?
All applications must be received in the MHSAA office by 4 p.m. (EST) on Friday, Dec. 3, 2004. No exceptions will be made for any reason. Each school is responsible for utilizing a delivery method which ensures that its applications arrive on time. The MHSAA is not responsible for delays caused by the school's choice of delivery service. No applications will be considered which arrive in the MHSAA office after the deadline of 4 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 3, 2004.

Any applications received after 4 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 3, 2004, will be returned. Any incomplete applications received prior to Dec. 3, 2004, will be returned after the deadline.

Can we FAX in our applications?
No.

How do we avoid being at the mercy of the delivery method we select?
There are no absolute guarantees with any delivery service. If your application is sent by your delivery method's standard service the week of Thanksgiving, chances are it will arrive in the MHSAA office prior to the deadline. If you do not provide the package to your delivery service until the week of the deadline, you may wish to use an overnight or other service that guarantees its delivery to the MHSAA office prior to the deadline. Hand-delivering the package to the MHSAA office the week of the deadline is also an option.

Regardless of the delivery method you choose, if the applications are not received in the MHSAA office prior to the deadline of 4 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 3, 2004, they will not be judged. Exceptions will not be made for any reason. Take great care in selecting your delivery method.

What happens after Dec. 3?
The applications are sorted by sport and region and distributed to the judging committee for evaluation. The judging committee will meet during January to select the finalists and scholarship recipients in each sport.

How will we be notified of our applicant's progress in the process?
All information will be available through the MHSAA Web site — www.mhsaa.com. The list of entries will be posted to the Web site by December 31. Barring any delays in the judging process, the following announcement schedule will be followed:

Announcement of finalists — mid-January
Announcement of fall scholarship recipients — February 1
Announcement of winter scholarship recipients — February 8
Announcement of spring scholarship recipients — February 15

All finalists will receive written notification by Jan. 21. This information will be mailed to the building athletic director. Scholarship recipients will receive a set of forms which must be filled out and sent to the MHSAA along with one (1) photograph for publication purposes. All other finalists will be informed of their status and will also be required to submit one (1) photo.

I understand that all applicants receive certificates. Explain the timetable and what to do if we have a question about the certificates.
In April, each school athletic director will be sent the certificates for the applicants from that school. Each student will receive one certificate for each of the sports the individual applied.

If an error is found on the certificate, you may contact the MHSAA directly. Note the correction on the certificate, and fax the certificate to (517) 332-4071.

The names appear on the certificate exactly as they appear on the master entry list which will appear on the MHSAA Web site. Schools should check the list in January and contact the MHSAA office with corrections so that problems do not arise when certificates are issued.