BenGlassLaw 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, 2025, 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. That application needs to include:

• The application form on this page
• A scholarship essay between 500 and 750 words in length

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.

Drafting an Essay Header

The team also expects students to include the following in their essays:

• A catchy title
• A bibliography, if applicable
• In-line citations, if applicable

Students should also include a header that lists the following:

• Their full name
• The name of the BenGlassLaw Referee and Umpire Leadership Scholarship
• The name of their institution of choice
• The address for that institution’s financial aid office
• The email address and phone number for that financial aid office
• Their student ID number, as applicable

Finally, students should save their complete essays using the following format: “[Scholarship Name and Year] – [Student Name].” 

Application Deadline

Students have until December 15, 2025, to complete their scholarship essays and submit them for the consideration of the scholarship selection committee. Unfortunately, the committee cannot accept late applications or applications submitted without all essential materials.

Applications with essays less than 500 words in length or more than 750 words in length will be removed from the applicant pool, as will applications submitted without essays or with AI-generated essays.

The scholarship selection committee reserves up to three months after the scholarship’s deadline to select its winner. Please do not contact BenGlassLaw during this timeframe for updates on a student’s application. We cannot provide these updates at this time.

Terms and Conditions

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 college, trade school, university, or graduate school
• Applicants must be at least 18 years old at the time of enrollment
• 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.

Selection and Award Notification Process

Age, race, religion, gender, national origin, familial status, or other protected classes will have no influence on the committee’s decision. Once chosen, the scholarship selection committee will only contact the winning student upon selecting the best-written scholarship essay. 

Non-winners will not receive emails or any other form of communication informing them about the scholarship winner. As such, BenGlassLaw encourages students to keep an eye on the firm’s website for updates on the winner selection process.

BenGlassLaw will send the winning student’s scholarship award directly to that student’s college, trade school, or university of choice.

Previous Winners 

BenGlassLaw looks forward to celebrating the achievements of young umpires and referees here. The team hopes that its financial support will make it easier for these young leaders to pursue their academic goals.