Award for Youth Excellence Scholarship:

Eligible candidates must be a sophomore at Stamford High School or Westhill High School, be a resident of Stamford, CT and have a minimum 3.0 GPA.  Students who choose to apply for this award will be required to complete an application provided by their high school’s guidance department. Information required on the application includes:

• high school transcript current to April this year
• academic honors
• athletic participation
• extracurricular activities at school
• honors, citations, awards, and notable achievements
• community involvement and volunteer activity
• 500-word essay
• two letters of recommendation

Each high school has its own nominating committee responsible for reviewing all applications and nominating six finalists, three boys and three girls. An Award Selection Committee from the Fund will determine the winner of the $7,500 Mickey Lione Jr. Award for Youth Excellence and the runners-up based on a review of the applications and a personal interview with each of the students from each school. All runners-up will receive a $1,000 scholarship under the same terms as the winner.

Upon successful completion of their senior year of high school and upon choosing to continue their education at an institution of higher learning, the scholarship is made available to the award recipients and runners-up to assist with that further education.

The recipient and runners-up must attend an accredited college, university, or technical institute within two years of high school graduation. The recipient and runners-up will be expected to maintain a standard of behavior that is consistent with the values both taught and practiced by Mickey Lione, Jr.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The scholarship application process begins in March each year, with applications to be submitted no later than May 1st. Please contact your high school guidance department for further information and specific details with regard to the submission process. Applications directly submitted to the Fund will not be accepted.

Mara Award

Individuals, teams, and organizations can nominate an individual for the award. The nominated individual must be a volunteer and work directly with the program’s participants as a coach.

The program must be a Stamford-sanctioned House League association that is open to all Stamford residents.

A nomination letter as well as a brief history of the nominee’s background with the program should be sent to the address below by May 1st of each year.

Click here for the application

“Giving Back” Grants

Grants are awarded to organizations that align with the sports Mickey Lione, Jr., participated in and coached: baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. Requests for financial assistance for Stamford resident youths’ participation in a Stamford House League program that is open to all residents can be forwarded to the address below. A full disclosure of the organization’s financial information must be made available.