Reilly Rich: ”I think it’s vitally important to give back to my community in any way that I can.” (Photo courtesy of ENYYSA)
Reilly Rich has been awarded a Jack Bauman Scholarship by Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association.
The scholarship is based on success in high school as well as community service.
Rich was class president, lead violinist, a member of the National Honor Society, captain of the varsity teams in soccer, basketball and lacrosse and was the 2019 New York State Class B player of the year for soccer at Central Valley Academy. She broke the school record for goals scored when she was an eighth grader and snapped that as a senior.
The Ilion, N.Y. resident has played for the Coliseum Soccer Club in the Central New York Youth Soccer League since the age of eight as well as for Eastern New York’s Olympic Development Program.
In her scholarship essay, Rich wrote: ”I think it’s vitally important to give back to my community in any way that I can because if I didn’t have all the opportunities bestowed upon me, along with all the people in my life who support me, I would not be the person I am today. I’ve been fortunate enough to have grown up in such an amazing, close-knit community where everyone truly comes together to support one another. Everyone wants to be part of something positive and when our soccer team, for the first time in school history, became league champs, then sectional champs, then regional champs, and then state finalists, the community ended up being the driving force that excelled our team.”
The scholarship’s namesake, Jack Bauman, is considered the father of women’s soccer on Long Island. He was devoted to the Massapequa Soccer Club, Eastern New York and making sure that girls had as many opportunities to play soccer as boys did in an era when girls playing sports was not as accepted as it is today.
Rich will attend and play soccer at Nazareth College.
