WCSA Scholarships

Teams in the Western Collegiate Softball Association play under the umbrella of the Alberta Intercollegiate Women's Fastball Association (AIWFA).  AIWFA is a registered non-profit organization dedicated to establishing women's fastball as varsity sport.  To this end,  AIWFA has established a post-secondary women's fastball league at the sport club level - a league open to all colleges and universities in Western Canada.  All student athletes on Alberta teams ( University of Calgary, Mount Royal University, and SAIT Polytechnic ) in the AIWFA are invited to apply for scholarships valued at up to $750.00. The Scholarship Committee Chair will direct a review of applications to determine acceptance. Your application may be emailed to wcsascholarship@gmail.com between May 10, 2019 and August 1, 2019.

**Official Transcripts will be addressed to AIWFA 2019 SCHOLARSHIP and mailed by the educational institution to:**
c/o Calgary Minor Softball
202, 811 Manning Rd. NE
Calgary, AB
T2E 7L4 

+++ Scholarships will only be available once funding from AGLC is available.

Criteria

 There are two levels of scholarship, based on your GPA.

  1. Academic Achievement - Priority is given to applicants with a Grade Point Average of 3.00 or higher (equivalency of various institutions' GPA standards will be considered), based on official transcripts of the 2018 - 2019 fall and winter terms. These awards will be up to a value of $750. A second level scholarship is given to applicants with a Grade Point Average between 2.50 to 2.99 (equivalency of various institutions' GPA standards will be considered), based on official transcripts of the 2018 - 2019 fall and winter terms. These awards will be up to a value of $250.
  2. Full-Time Student Status - The applicant must have completed at least 60% of a program's full-time course load thoughout the 2018 - 2019 fall and winter terms.
  3. Team Membership - The applicant must have been a member in good standing with an WCSA team during the 2018 season and must have participated in 70% of the team's games, practices and required team functions - as confirmed by the team's head coach.
  4. Citizenship/ Sportsmanship - The applicant must have continually demonstrated the ideals of good citizenship on campus, on the playing field and in the greater community - as confirmed by their team's head coach.
  5. Scholarship Survey Questions - The applicant is to submit answers to the following five questions. Ideally your answers will total at least 750 words.

1) How did you first become aware of the WCSA and the opportunities at the school you chose?:

2) What would you do to help to increase or improve on the awareness of the league to prospective players and their parents?

3) The league schedules for the last 4 years have been set up to allow for each school to host a weekend, and all teams would travel to that location to play. As we have added 2 more schools to the league for the 2019 season, and we hope to add schools in the future, that formula will not work. What type of schedule format would you like to see in the future? Rotational hosting by each school? That might mean that your school might not get a home weekend some years. Two hosts for each weekend with 3 or 4 teams attending? Each school hosts, but not all schools will attend your home dates. Split the league into 2 conferences, say east and west, and play limited games against the other conference? Feel free to offer your own ideas.

4) Playoffs have always included all teams in the league. With 7 teams now a variation of a round robin format will not work because of time constraints. In 2019 the format will be a modified double knockout schedule. We could continue this format into 2020, or we could limit the number of teams that make the playoffs like the OCAA and OIWFA do in Ontario. That format would put emphasis on the regular season to finish in the top 4 for example. Alternatively if you chose to split into 2 conferences ( # 3 above ), you could have the top 2 from each conference meet in a 4 team playoff. The question then is, with many choices available. what type of playoff would you want, and why? 

5 ) Social media plays an important role in the modern world. As a league we have not taken advantage of the many forms available to us to promote the league.What form(s) of social media should the league concentrate on in the next 2 years, and why? 

Congratulations to the 11 WCSA athletes who have been selected to receive the 2018 Alberta Intercollegiate Women's Fastball Association Scholarship.

SAIT Polytechnic -  Jessica Callihoo

Mount Royal University  - Sara Czerwonka, Jacalyn McDowell, Evelyn Fransoo,

University of Calgary -  Emma Jerome-Smith, Victoria Kehler, Alexis Huggart, Kim Vibert, Haley Acton, Maddie Markey, Naidine Burdett

Congratulations to the 16 WCSA athletes who have been selected to receive the 2017 Alberta Intercollegiate Women's Fastball Association Scholarship.

SAIT Polytechnic -  Rachelle Daubney, Nina Hendricks

Mount Royal University Sara Czerwonka, Jacalyn McDowell, Kennedy Murphy

University of Calgary -  Emma Jerome-Smith, Taylor Mennie, Sydney Sparanese, Victoria Kehler, Alexis Huggart, Domenica Chieffo, Kim Vibert, Karen Sondergard, Haley Acton, Maddie Markey

Congratulations to the 13 WCSA athletes who have been selected to receive the 2016 Alberta Intercollegiate Women's Fastball Association Scholarship.

SAIT Polytechnic - Hailey Young, Courtney Lum, Chelsey Charlesworth, Allison MacDougall, Shellsea Steed, Emi Horne

University of Calgary -  Emma Jerome-Smith, Taylor Mennie, Sydney Sparanese, Jessica Mackinnon, Shayla Klein, Victoria Kehler, Maya Sohn

Congratulations to the 21 WCSA athletes who have been selected to receive the 2014 Alberta Intercollegiate Women's Fastball Association Scholarship. 

SAIT Polytechnic - Jenna Sparrow , Jenna Grossland, Kellie Stadler, Lindsay Atkinson

University of Calgary - Rachel Bader, Kara Lee, Samantha Hiltz, Breanne Rathgeber, Emma Jerome-Smith, Jessica Ruzicki, Sarah Beth Plishka, Taylor Mennie, Alexandra McAdam, Kristin Walz, Taylor McGonigal

University of Lethbridge - Jacqueline Toane, Danyelle Heidt

Mount Royal University - Veronica Hall, Kristie Artinger, Sarah Howden, Robyn Madden

Congratulations to the 19 WCSA athletes who have been selected to receive the 2013 Alberta Intercollegiate Women's Fastball Association Scholarship.