Alice Bixler Scholarship
The Alice Bixler Scholarship Program was established in 2008 to honor Alice Bixler for her many contributions to the sport of BMX and to the Florida State BMX program.
Alice first became involved with BMX in 1974 when she took the neighborhood kids to the local track in Sarasota. It wasn't long before she started volunteering at the track as a scorer, which caused her love for the sport to grow. In 1979, the Sarasota track joined the sanction of the National Bicycle League and that same year, Florida formed the Sunshine State BMX Association (SSA). The SSA's purpose was to coordinate the state championship series and grow BMX in Florida. She joined the board and was elected secretary, but within a few months everyone else on the board resigned and she became the State Race Commissioner of Florida. And she's never looked back.
The first NBL President's Cup race was held in 1984, a state against state competition. Florida won the President's Cup 23 times, two of the Cups were retired to Florida. Alice was there for every single one of them! She was also involved with the NBL in many capacities throughout the years. She was honored by the NBL as Volunteer of the Year in 1995. In 2008 she was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame.
Under Alice's leadership, Florida created the best and largest state program, while being sanctioned by NBL. In the past, there were as many as 22 tracks in Florida. Presently, there are 15 tracks in the state that are sanctioned through USA BMX.
In 2007, after 33 years of volunteer service, she decided that it was time to pass the primary leadership role of the SSA to some of the capable volunteers already deeply involved with the state program. That same year, to honor her support of BMX in Florida, the SSA created a scholarship program and named it after Alice.
In its first year, the Alice Bixler Scholarship program awarded three scholarships totaling $4,350. As of 2023 the program has awarded 152 scholarships totaling $152,750.
Application Process
PURPOSE: The Alice Bixler Scholarship Program was created to assist students and their families in meeting the costs of furthering their education at an undergraduate college, technical/trade school, or graduate school.
DEADLINE: Application submitted by April 1, 2024, midnight EDT.
HOW AWARDED: The awards will be presented to the recipients at the Florida State Championship Series Awards Ceremony. If you are unable to be at the awards ceremony, you will be notified by email. The actual check will be sent directly to the Financial Aid office of the recipient's intended school.
SELECTION PROCEDURE: The Scholarship Committee will review the application materials and grade the applicants on five criteria: scholastic achievement, BMX involvement, community involvement, extracurricular activities and financial need. The committee will select who they feel are the most deserving applicants. Recommendations will then be made, in order of preference, to USA BMX for final approval. In the event of a tie, the tiebreaker will be determined by the financial need of the participant. The number of applicants selected will depend on the amount of scholarship funds available for that year.
QUALIFICATIONS:
To qualify for consideration for the grant, a student must:
1. Have a current USA BMX membership. Or, volunteer at a track in Florida regularly (no USA BMX membership required in this case).
2. A rider must have participated in BMX races in the state of Florida in the year the award is being applied for.
3. Be a Florida resident who is a high school senior or graduate attending a post-secondary school or technical/trade or graduate school at the time of application.
4. Be accepted and plan to attend an accredited post-secondary school, technical/trade or graduate school as a full time or part-time student for the award year.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
1. Complete the formal application.
2. Attach a copy of the letter of acceptance from the school you plan to attend if you are currently in high school or plan on changing colleges, only. If you haven't received your acceptance letter by the deadline, it must be submitted prior to any Scholarship awards being sent to the financial institution you will attend.
3. Submit two letters of recommendation from any member of the BMX community that participates in managing or running races. This letter should state what they feel are the student's outstanding characteristics and why they should receive this award. The letters of recommendation must accompany the application.
4. Your current transcript (high school or college) must be included with the application.
5. Submit an essay with the application on the subject found in the scholarship application form.
NOTE:
-ALL REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED.
-ALL REQUIREMENTS MUST ACCOMPANY THE FORMAL APPLICATION, DO NOT FILE ITEMS SEPARATELY. (Only exception is if you have not received your acceptance letter at time of application submission.)
-ANY APPLICATION RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
If you have any questions please contact Connie Shepler at connie@usabmx.com.