2020 Academic Scholarship Winners
USA Ball Hockey, with support and donations from the Filipowski Foundation, would like to congratulate this year’s male and female Academic Scholarship Awards to Victoria Biagetti (Pittsburgh, PA) and Robert Stefanelli (Williamstown, NJ).
Victoria’s high school ceramics teacher, and assistant basketball coach, summarized her best as the type of humanitarian that cares as much about the success of her teammates as she does her own personal achievements.  As captain of her varsity basketball team in high school, and as a member of the National Honor Society, Victoria strives to be a leader on the ball hockey rink, basketball court, soccer and baseball fields, as well as in the community.  She is in her first year of Health Science at La Roche University. “Playing has taught me leadership skills and team bonding that I use in the workforce.  I can’t imagine my life without hockey…” she wrote to us.
Robert graduated from Saint Augustine Prep School, and is currently attending James Madison University, where he majors in Media Art and Design with a minor in Sports Communication.  He is a multisport athlete, playing both football and lacrosse in high school.  Robert has been a volunteer at the Monroe Township Youth Hockey Program, including his work there as an official.  Check out Robert’s awesome essay that illustrates the impact ball hockey has made in his life.
Thanks to all applicants who made our panel of educators dive deep into the rubric, spending hours comparing the submissions to the criteria used to select this year’s winners.  Good luck in your careers both on the rink and in the classroom to both Victoria and Robert, as well as all of the other applicants.
Unbreakable
By Robert Stefanelli

We’ve been best friends since I was only four years old. At first we hung out just for fun, some would say it was to keep me busy to give my parents a break, even if it was just for an hour or so on a Saturday morning. I didn’t mind our play-dates, although I’d usually come home smelling like a barn, with what seemed like buckets of snot running down my nose. My parents never questioned why I came home from hanging out with my friend with all of these problems, which I thought was strange. The bruises, raspberries, and red ears from the frigid air almost always showed, but it just was what it was.

As I got older, I began to see our relationship for what it was. We were becoming like family. The fun I had night in and night out was unmatched. The things we did when we hung out were just different from other friends. The excitement of hanging out every chance we could was exhilarating. Eventually, we even got to travel together. We toured almost all of South Jersey, having more fun than we could have ever imagined. Then, we began to see the world together, we went to Pittsburgh, Massachusetts, and even The Czech Republic. Traveling has always been one of my favorite things to do, and my best friend allowed me to travel and experience new things like nobody else has.

Finally, my best friend has introduced me to more and more friends continuously, for years. Although my best friend will always be my number one, the others that have been introduced to me have become like a second family as well. I wouldn’t trade the people, the families, and the moments for anything. The friends, both guys and girls, that I have made and built relationships with through my best friend have been a huge part of my life. When something didn’t seem to go my way, those people are the ones that continually had my back. Through thick and thin, back against the wall, they have been there. They’ve always been there to support the shoe-tyin’, shot-blockin’, maniac that I am. The sweatshirts. The pictures. The laughs. Even the losses. I have no regrets because all of this happened with my family and my best friend.

Although it may seem to others that my relationship with my best friend is perfect, it is far from that. We’ve had our ups and downs, our fights, our regrets. Sometimes it even felt like we wanted to quit on each other. Just give up and never see each other again. But, it just wasn’t that easy, we had a relationship like no other that was held together differently than anything else. No matter how hard it got and no matter how much it hurt we knew we had to stick it out because deep down we loved each other. To this day that love is unbreakable.

Hockey, if you’re reading this, thank you for being my best friend. You didn’t just impact my life, you are my life.

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