Mission:
To Promote Sportsmanship

Total amount of scholarships awarded since 2001:

$ 2 , 4 2 4 , 0 0 0

Our Values

PROMOTING HONESTY, INTEGRITY, COOPERATION, RESPECT, COURAGE, TEAMWORK AND DISCIPLINE

We recognize outstanding sportsmanship.  Sportsmanship is an expression of honesty, integrity, cooperation, courage, teamwork and discipline.  Most often it applies to athletic events, yet its scope is wider.  The ability to get along with others is one of the greatest learned skills.  ‘Good sports’ stand out in any arena and enrich the lives of others wherever they may be.

The Award

Gretchen Wolf Swartz refereed girls high school basketball from 1981 to 1995 advocating and displaying sportsmanship.  Following her untimely death to leukemia in 1997, fellow officials discussed a memorial fund to promote sportsmanship.  In December of 1999 the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Scholarship Fund, Inc. gained 501(c)(3) acceptance.  Following a fund-raising campaign, the first scholarships were awarded in 2000-2001.

Each year, the York Chapter of PIAA Basketball officials will choose a girls’ and a boys’ basketball team from a YAIAA member school.  Observing grades 7-12, the officials look for examples of good sportsmanship in coaches, fans, staff, cheerleaders, and players.  Two traveling trophies are awarded annually, in recognition of the schools’ good sportsmanship.

In addition, the award qualifies senior basketball players on the winning program’s team to apply for a post secondary school scholarship.

The Scholarship

OUR 20th YEAR OF
REWARDING EXCELLENCE

Following the award to a girls’ and a boys’ basketball team, the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Board of Directors select scholarship recipients. The senior basketball players attending post-secondary school (university/trade school) apply to and have an interview with the scholarship board.