RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – August 6, 2008 – DigitalSports®, a national network of local sport communities, connecting athletes, coaches, fans, and families, announced today their annual scholarship winners.  The DigitalSports “Applause” and “Media” Scholarships are awarded annually to local senior-level students that excel in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in the community while overcoming extraordinary circumstances.  Ryan Davis of Thomas Dale High School, Susannah Gooch of  Hermitage High School and Andrew Phillips of Mills Godwin High School each recently took home a prize of $1,000 for their exemplary accomplishments, both on and off of the field, to be used toward tuition during their upcoming collegiate year.    

Susannah Gooch, a Hermitage High School cheerleader and runner, was selected as the very first Richmond-area Applause winner because of her courageous battle against childhood scoliosis, a severe curvature of the spine.   A participant in fourteen senior year activities, Susannah’s love for her sports and desire to succeed outweighed her handicap.   It has been said that Susannah is an inspiration to her teachers, coaches, classmates and friends.  She will be attending The State University of New York this fall.  

DigitalSports also awarded two one-thousand dollar Media Scholarships to the Richmond-area students who contributed the best content on the most consistent basis to their local DigitalSports.com website.  

Thomas Dale High School’s Ryan “Chili” Davis was face of Richmond’s DigitalSports video interviews—having been featured on nearly forty this year.  His on-camera journalistic skills were pivotal during the busy 2008 Thomas Dale basketball season and earned him a one-thousand dollar Media Award Scholarship.  A football, baseball and track star, Ryan will major in mass communications, with an emphasis on TV and broadcasting, at Campbell University in North Carolina this fall.        

Andrew Phillips, a recent Mills Godwin High School graduate, also received a one-thousand prize as a recipient of the Media Scholarship.  Andrew’s commitment to the Mills Godwin athletic department and newspaper staff was admirable.  Every week he covered every sport, from football to volleyball, offering unique stories on admirable players.  Andrew is headed to Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall of 2008.  

“The students honored with the 2008 Applause and Media Scholarships are the young adults who will be courageously leading us in to the future,” says Carl Wartzack, Chief Operating Officer of DigitalSports.  “We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on these extraordinary local students and to offer them this tuition-award in order to further their education and success.”  

DigitalSports.com was established to highlight the positive aspects of high school and youth sports and the positive impact sports has on the individual and their community.  The goal of the DigitalSports network is to support the influence sports has on young-athletes by offering information, tools, services and tuition-awards to students across the country.    

DigitalSports believes in helping students and student-athletes develop valuable skills, experiences and attributes that will be needed to advance their careers and solidify life-long success.   In addition to tuition-based scholarships (Applause and Media Awards), DigitalSports also offers internships.  Through the DigitalSports Developmental League, students can learn new skills by actually performing the tasks associated with a particular career that is of interest to them. 

DigitalSports has quickly become the premier source for local sports multimedia, including videos, photos, headlines, stats, standings and other information, and is widely recognized as the go-to resource for coaches, municipalities and officials with its suite of innovative management tools and systems.  To help your school’s graduating student-athletes earn valuable scholarship money that can assist their continuation of educational and athletic endeavors at the collegiate level, visit DigitalSports.com for nomination information. 

For more information on DigitalSports programs, franchise opportunities, scholarships and awards, visit www.digitalsports.com or contact Kristi Hughes at Kristi@manavisitapr.com, or at 215-816-2954.


About Digital Sports® 
DigitalSports® is the source for your local sports and activities; providing members and guests with a single point of access to high school and club sports and activities around the country. By distributing professional and user-generated content, DigitalSports offers communities around the nation the opportunity to share and spotlight the accomplishments of their local youth.  

DigitalSports’ mission is to deliver a positive, quality experience to its guests through their online tools and systems and their video and print information as well as providing innovative tools and resources to coaches and mentors.   DigitalSports operates as a new-media outlet within defined guidelines for preventing any publishing of inappropriate content.  

The goal of DigitalSports® is to inform, entertain and inspire.  DigitalSports believes that the real heroes are to be found in our local communities; next door, in our homes and in our schools.  More information can be found at www.digitalsports.com.