Baeth Receives NCAA Post-Grad Scholarship
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Swarthmore senior Anna Baeth has been selected as a 2009 recipient of an NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Scholarship for Careers in Athletics.
The scholarship programs were developed by the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, and the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, with the goal of increasing the pool of and opportunities for qualified minority and female candidates in intercollegiate athletics.
Baeth (Frederick, Md. / Frederick), a team captain in 2008, played 53 games for the Garnet field hockey team over four years, leading the defensive backline with six defensive saves. She was twice named All-Centennial, earning second-team honors in 2007 and an honorable mention in 2006.
The NCAA annually awards 13 scholarships to ethnic minorities and 13 scholarships to female college graduates who will be entering their initial year of postgraduate studies. Recipients must be seeking admission or have been accepted into a sports administration or related program that will help them obtain a career in intercollegiate athletics. Scholarship winners have one year to use the one-time award of $6,000.
Baeth is just one of five student-athletes from Division III to receive the scholarship and the lone student-athlete from the Northeast.
Baeth, a sociology and anthropology major, is an active part of the community, both on campus and in the surrounding Philadelphia suburbs. As a member of the Garnet lacrosse team in 2006, Baeth joined four teammates in volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, helping rebuild communities damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Her community service ambitions continued this past fall as Baeth founded the Chester Neighborhood Bike Works (CNBW), organizing volunteers and members of the Chester community to rebuild bikes and to teach bicycle safety and repair to local youth. Baeth modeled the program after Philadelphia Neighborhood Bike Works, where she volunteered last summer with the help of a Summer Social Action Award from the Swarthmore Foundation.
“Biking in the urban equivalent to suburban soccer,” stated Baeth. “The kids [in Chester] are bouncing off the walls with energy and having this outlet has worked wonders for them.”
Upon graduation, Baeth desires to enter the coaching field. She has worked at various field hockey camps over the years, including STX camps at Johns Hopkins and World Camp USA at Swarthmore. Recently Baeth attended the 10th annual Snell Shillingford Coaching Symposium hosted by Bryn Mawr College, a weekend-long event designed to encourage female student-athletes in the Centennial Conference to find creative ways to pursue their passion for athletics. While studying abroad in Costa Rica during the 2007 spring semester, Baeth created a field hockey team at the local school, writing curriculum and obtaining equipment donations.
“I feel athletics can play a valuable role as young girls grow up,” said Baeth. “Seeing the Costa Rican girls sitting on the sidelines during recess prompted me to move into action.”
Baeth is pointed towards graduate school, having applied at several prominent exercise science programs, including Smith College and Springfield College, both in Massachusetts.
“The Snell Shellingford Symposium justified my coaching ambitions, “said Baeth. “I see the limited number of women in athletics and it just fuels my desire to make a difference in what I love.”
Before she heads off to further her education, the Maryland native will bike across the country this summer in an effort to raise money for the Chester Community Project. Baeth will start in Florida this June, traveling to New Orleans, on into Texas, past the Grand Canyon, before making a ceremonious dip of her front tire into the Pacific Ocean in California on August 15.