Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship

BenGlassLaw and its Fairfax personal injury lawyers believe in the power of early leadership. When asked why younger teens should try their hands at refereeing, a firm representative responded as follows:

“Officiating gives you something no other high school job can—leadership experience that actually matters. You’ll be in charge, making real-time decisions, managing adults, and keeping your cool under pressure. You’ll earn respect, grow in confidence, and learn how to lead—not by title, but by action. It’s one of the smartest things you can do in your teens.”

It’s in the face of these benefits that BenGlassLaw wants to reward those students who’ve taken the first step toward learning how to lead. The BenGlassLaw Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship promises $2,500 to a student who can demonstrate leadership skills secured through referee and umpire experience. Students have until December 15, 2026, to apply.

Application Requirements

BenGlassLaw invites incoming or current students attending United States colleges, universities, trade schools, and graduate schools to apply for the Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship. Students must agree to the scholarship’s terms and conditions to qualify for the $2,500 award.

All applicants need to ensure that they meet the scholarship’s qualifying criteria (having worked as a referee or umpire prior to attending one of the aforementioned educational institutions) before submitting an application for consideration.

The scholarship selection committee encourages students to carefully read the criteria for the scholarship essay before finalizing their submissions.

Scholarship Essay Topic

The team with BenGlassLaw believes that real leadership starts on the field, most often with the person with the whistle (or calling balls and strikes). The Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship aims to celebrate those young people who have taken their first steps toward true leadership by serving in these positions.

Ben Glass, the firm’s founder, wrote You: A Soccer Referee, a guide for young officials who want to build their confidence. He now invites today’s soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball, and other sports referees to draft an essay going into detail about how their experience as sporting officials has improved their leadership skills.

Students applying for the Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship must complete a short essay between 500 and 750 words in response to the following prompt: “How has being a youth sports official helped shape you into a leader, and how will those leadership skills guide you in the future?”

What to Include in a Scholarship Essay

BenGlassLaw requests that students applying for the Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship include the following in their essays:

An introduction to you and the sport(s) you officiate

A specific story or moment where you demonstrated leadership as a referee or umpire—for example, how you handled a challenging situation, mentored another official, or led by example through fairness and integrity

A reflection on the personal and leadership skills you’ve developed—such as confidence, communication, resilience, or emotional intelligence—and how you plan to carry those into your education, career, or community life

Your advice to a younger teenage referee or umpire

The team is looking for honest, thoughtful essays that go into detail about how officiating has shaped students’ characters. The use of AI to generate these essays will see a student’s application removed from the applicant pool without further consideration.

Eligibility

All applicants to this scholarship must meet the eligibility requirements as laid out on the scholarship application page, including:

• Applicants must be enrolled at a high school, college, trade school, university, or graduate school
• Applicants must have residency in the United States
• Applicants must be in good academic standing
• Applicants must submit some personal information, including name, contact information, and academic information.
• Applicants must author an original essay on the scholarship topic provided.

Anyone who meets the following conditions is NOT eligible to apply:

• Employees or children of employees of BenGlassLaw
• Past recipients of the Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship
• Applicants who are unable/unwilling to be interviewed by a representative of BenGlassLaw if they were to be awarded a scholarship.
• Applicants who submit the same essay for multiple scholarships or for multiple years in a row
• Applicants who are unwilling (or their parents are unwilling) to allow BenGlassLaw to use images, essays, and first and last names in BenGlassLaw marketing and social media materials. Applicants (or their parents if under the age of 18 at the time the scholarship is paid) will be required to sign an appropriate release of name, image, likeness, and intellectual property rights (to the essay) before scholarship funds are transferred.