Bay State Games Announces 2019 Future Leaders Scholarship Recipients

WOBURN (June 24, 2019) – The Bay State Games has selected six statewide scholarship recipients for the 2019 Future Leaders Scholarship Program. These winners were selected from a large applicant pool after a process that included committee reviews of all applications and live interviews with selected applicants. 

These future leaders were selected based on their achievements and involvement in academics, community service, athletics, and leadership roles. The Bay State Games Future Leaders Scholarship was established in 1989 and has since distributed nearly $400,000 in financial aid. Each of the rising high school seniors will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

"We are proud to announce our 2019 Future Leader scholarship winners, and to acknowledge six outstanding student-athletes whose contributions to their respective schools, teams and communities is extraordinary," said Phil Gloudemans, board chair of the Massachusetts Amateur Sports Foundation, the organizer of the Summer and Winter Bay State Games. "We are very confident that these young men and women will excel during their college careers, and emerge as the new leaders, managers, and executives in whatever field they choose to pursue."

This year’s six winners are:

Emily Dobrindt attends Milton High School where she is a swimmer for the Swim Team, as well as the South Shore YMCA Strypers for the past 11 years. She is very involved with the Friends of the Blue Hills organization, responsible for the upkeep of a local state park. Emily has done over 300 hours of community service, all while earning straight As in school. She has participated in the Bay State Games swimming competition for the past six years.

Alondra Msallem attends Dedham High School. She has run track and field since 6th grade, competes in cross country, and has participated in the Bay State Games for two years. Alondra is heavily involved in LeadersNow International, which is a worldwide organization that promotes leadership in young women. Through this, she gave back to the community and created her own leadership club at school, Leaders Achieving Service and Experience, to help younger students develop leadership skills.

Nishka Pant attends Westborough High School. She has been swimming for USA club teams over the past five years as well for her varsity swim team for the past three years, qualifying for the State Championship in each year. After winning the Global Harvard Vision Leadership Conference case study competition, she started a vision club at her high school, raising money for an eye hospital in India. Nishka interns at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of MIT, working on different research projects.

Keleyia Lamarra Rochelle is from Mattapan and attends Wellesley High School, where she swims on the varsity swim team and sings for her school’s a cappella group and jazz choir. She also is a member of the Young Ethnic Scholars club, which represents the school’s minority students and promotes diversity. Keleyia uses both swimming and music to help her community, by participating in the Swim for Life, raising money for Provincetown Social Services, and performing in assisted living communities. She participated in both the 2015 and 2016 Bay State Games swimming competition where she ranked as a finalist. 

Jacqueline Smith is from Stow and attends Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton. She is a member of the Riverside Archers Road Team where she has been competing in archery competitions for the past two years. Jacqueline also has a passion for art and won a silver key in painting in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in 2018. She wants to help teach and motivate younger students as well, and on her own became a volunteer teacher at a local elementary school. Jaqueline has participated in the Bay State Games for the past two years and will also be competing in the State Games of America this August.

Ella Stanwood is from Wenham and attends Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. Ella has been figure skating since she was six years old and in 2018 achieved senior level for U.S. Figure Skating. She has recently competed in the New England Regional Competition and has been competing in the Bay State Games for the past seven years. Ella frequently volunteers her time to help her community, earning the Chester Twiss Memorial Award at the North Shore Skating Club, which is given to the member who dedicates the most time and effort to the community. Ella has also participated in community service trips to Nicaragua in 2018 and Panama in 2019.

College Admissions Process for Student-Athletes – Your Guide to a Successful College Visit

Written by:  Kim Penney and Danielle Dunn, One-on-One College Consulting

A college visit may include an information session and/or campus tour. Depending on your target list of colleges, you may need to register online before you go. A helpful website to map out your visits in an efficient way is: https://goseecampus.com/

Prior to attending a college visit, student-athletes should email the coaches of each school to let them know they will be on campus. Depending on NCAA recruiting timeline and sport, coaches may be able to speak to you while you are visiting. Often times, if they are actively recruiting you, coaches will supplement your tour by showing you the athletic facilities in addition to the admissions tour.

Here is a general checklist you can use as a guide on your visits:

·         Take campus tour

·         Attend admissions information session

·         Eat at cafeteria

·         Attend a class

·         Read college newspaper

·         Tour area around campus

·         Talk to students and professors

·         Visit places of interest not on tour (i.e. music/sports facilities)

·         Have an admissions interview (if applicable)

·         Speak to college coach (if applicable)

Next BSG Blog Topic (Week of June 24, 2019) – Questions to Ask Coaches When on a College Visit

College Admissions Process for Student-Athletes – How to Maximize Your Summer as a Recruited Student-Athlete

Besides playing on a club team, are you doing all that you can during the summer to improve your athletic skills and increase your chance of being recruited to play at the next level? Once you identify your list of colleges that fit you academically and socially, the summer months serve as an ideal time to help overlay the athletic fit.

Below are some activities that will assist you with this process:

1. Attend College Camps:

· According to your list of desired colleges, research whether the coaches of those schools offer prospect camps.

· Make a calendar reflecting all of the camp dates for each school, and then determine which camps fit your personal schedule and budget.

·You should plan to participate in at least 2-3 camps per summer. If you are not certain that a school on your target list offers a prospect camp, email the coach directly to ask which summer camps he/she runs or works at that would be beneficial for you to attend.

· Before attending a camp, be certain you fill out/update the online recruiting form for that college with your most recent GPA and test scores.

2. Attend Individual Summer Showcases/Tournaments:

· If you compete on a club team, your summer may be filled with team-oriented showcases/tournaments, but if your schedule allows, you may want to supplement it with individual events that can also be great platforms for you to be seen by college coaches.

·  For example, we highly recommend trying out and competing in the Bay State Games, Massachusetts’ own Olympic-style sports festival for high school student-athletes. The 2019 Summer Bay State Games typically hold tryouts in June and the competitions are held for one week in July at local sports venues across the state. For more information, go to:  http://www.baystategames.org/summer-sports

3. Get In the Gym:

· Nothing replaces hard work. Talent alone will not suffice. To be a top college recruit requires discipline not only working on your sport skills but also in the gym.

· Commit yourself to a strength and conditioning program that will increase your potential to be a stand-out recruit.  

Next BSG Blog Topic (Week of June 17, 2019) – Your Guide to a Successful Campus Visit

Bay State Games Newsletter: Summer 2019 Edition

To see the Bay State Games Summer 2019 Newsletter, click here.

Topics covered include the new recruiting resources, information about the 2019 Summer Games, new partnerships, and an announcement of the 2019 Bay State Games Hall of Fame Class.

Bay State Games Inducts Four Into 2019 Hall of Fame Class

Wayland resident Yvonne Chern, Marblehead native and resident Beth Sopka, Brockton’s Orlando Vandross and Roxbury’s Charlie Titus join past MLB, NBA, NHL and Olympians with Bay State Games ties.

WOBURN – Assistant coach of the 2019 NCCA National Championship Basketball Team, Orlando Vandross, Vice Chancellor of Athletics and Recreation and long-term UMass Boston Men’s Basketball Coach, Charlie Titus, and longtime Badminton Co-Directors Yvonne Chern and Beth Sopka have been selected for induction into the 2019 Bay State Games’ Hall of Fame. All four inductees will receive their award at a pre-game ceremony at Fenway Park on June 24 prior to the Red Sox game against the Chicago White Sox.

The Bay State Games Hall of Fame was created to recognize past participants who have gone on to prestigious and successful athletic careers, as well as former and current coaches, officials, sports organizers, and volunteers who have made significant contributions to the organization throughout its 38-year history.   Past inductees among the over 60 previous honorees include the NBA’s Dana Barros (`06), Tom Thibodeau (’17) and the late Reggie Lewis (`02); WNBA’s Rebecca Lobo (’03), the NHL’s Bill Guerin (`09) and Keith Yandle (14); Major League Baseball’s Carlos Pena (`11) and Rich Hill (`13); Olympians Nancy Kerrigan (`07), Jim Pedro (’04) and Bill Cleary (`14) as well as US Paralympic Gold Medalist Joe Lemar (’15).

Yvonne Chern has served as a co-director of badminton for the Bay State Games tournament for over 15 years. She lives in Wayland, Massachusetts and has been influential in expanding badminton on the East Coast. With her husband, she created the Boston Badminton Club located in Westborough, Massachusetts, which held the first USA Badminton Team trials outside of California. Yvonne serves as the Vice President of both the Northeast Badminton Association, the Massachusetts Badminton Association, and is a former board member of USA Badminton.

Beth Sopka helped initiate badminton into the Bay State Games and has served as a co-director for over 15 years. Sopka lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts where her love for badminton began while playing with her son. In 1996, she started the New England Junior Cup and in 1997 co-founded the North Shore Junior Badminton Association. She’s been President of the Massachusetts Badminton Association for nearly 20 years as well as Vice President of the Northeast Badminton Association since 2016.

Orlando Vandross grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts and competed in the Bay State Games playing basketball. Vandross played for Brockton High School and was inducted to their Hall of Fame in 2003. After playing throughout college at American International College in Springfield, he coached the 1996 Bay State Games Coastal Region Men’s Basketball team. He moved on to coach at Boston University and UNC Charlotte until 2015. Vandross now is an Assistant Coach for the University of Virginia’s Men’s Basketball team, which won their first NCAA National Championship title in 2019.

Charlie Titus has been on the board of directors for Bay State Games for over 25 years where he has made significant contributions by hosting events at UMass Boston facilities since the mid 1980’s. He currently lives and grew up in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He played basketball at Boston Technical High School and at Saint Michael’s College, where he was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. Titus was the first and only head coach of the UMass Boston Men’s Basketball team until 2015 when he took over as Vice Chancellor of Athletics and Recreation. Titus was recently inducted to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame for his honorable contributions.


For more information on the Hall of Fame, go to www.baystategames.org/hall-of-fame