Senior Joy Hess Awarded NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
March 4, 2005
KINGSTON, R.I. - Senior Joy Hess (Ephrata, Pa.) of the Rhode Island field hockey team, has been awarded the NCAA Fall Sport Postgraduate Scholarship by the National Selection Committee. In the past five years, Rhode Island has nominated five athletes, four of which have been finalists, including Hess. Hess is the first student-athlete in URI history to be awarded the scholarship and is also the only athlete from the Atlantic 10 to yield the honor this year. Hess is majoring in communicative disorders and holds a cumulative GPA of 3.9 with plans to attend graduate school in speech and hearing services.
The NCAA awards as many as 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. For each sports season (fall, winter and spring), there are 28 scholarships available for men and 28 scholarships available for women.
"I am very proud of her", said head field hockey coach Stacey Bean. "I am grateful to have such a great group of student-athletes to work with. Joy is the true representation of a student-athlete, she not only sets her sights on being a great athlete and excelling in the classroom, but she focuses on being a good person. I can't think of anyone more deserving of this award. Her teammates are also excited and wish her the best."
Hess, a midfielder, started every game in the 2004 season and tallied three goals for six points and recorded one defensive save. Hess was selected to participate in the 2004 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I North/South Senior All-Star game and was also chosen to coach at the NCAA Youth Education through Sports (YES) Clinic. Most recently, Hess was named to the 2004 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Northeast Region second-team.
In addition, Hess was named to the 2004 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey team, the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team and the Fall 2004 Commissioner's Cup Honor Roll. In 2003, Hess also received the Eleanor Lemaire Award, presented to a female athlete who possesses high academic achievement and athletic performance as well as volunteer and community service activities.
