Annual Educational Scholarship Application
Scholarships for NCDCTA Members
Further Your Training & Attain Your Goals
NCDCTA is pleased to offer scholarships to up to four junior riders (riders 21 and under as of December 31) at each of its four shows, in order to encourage juniors of all levels to take advantage of our state's competitive dressage environment.
Each scholarship will cover the cost of four classes, one stall, and a shared tack stall. This application, due by the show's opening date, will randomly selected. Applicants do not need to be NCDCTA members.
Commitment & Excellence
The NCDCTA Scholarship Program is designed both to help fund educational opportunities for members who have demonstrated a particular commitment to and/ or excellence in the sport.
Service and Volunteerism
The program supports qualified members in their educational advancement with the understanding that the membership and sport will benefit as a result of
the knowledge and experience gained.
Participate in Educational Programs
Scholarships must be used to participate in an educational program including, but not limited to, seminars, workshops, clinics, and training programs offered by recognized or certified instructors.
Funded Programs
Funded programs must have a stated objective, must be for the specific purpose of advancing the rider’s knowledge and/or skills, and must have clear start and end dates. Scholarship money may not be used as a travel grant.
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Qualification: Applicants must be in good standing with NCDCTA. Current board members and their immediate family are not eligible.
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Categories: Four categories of scholarship are available annually: Junior/YR, College, Amateur, and Professional.
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Review Process: The scholarship committee will review the completed applications. If no qualified applications are received by the deadline, then no award will be made.
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Evaluation: Each application will be evaluated with a uniform set of criteria. The criteria differ slightly for each category but include benchmarks such as length of NCDCTA membership, volunteer history, competition level, previous awards and recognition, the benefit to the NCDCTA membership, character, the goal of the program, and the timeliness of that goal. Additionally, for the Jr/YR, and College award, scholastic achievement, leadership, responsibility, and teamwork will be stressed.
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Notification: The Scholarship Chairman will notify all applicants of the outcome. Those who have been awarded scholarships are mailed a "Letter of Agreement" that outlines where, when and how the money will be used, based on the estimate the recipient included with the application. The Letter of Agreement also instructs the recipient to provide receipts to the Treasurer for all of his/her expenses associated with the scholarship. If for some reason the recipient does not within 1 year complete the program for which the award was made, any unused portion of the funds must be returned.
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Volunteer Project: By accepting scholarships, recipients agree to volunteer, within 6 months of the end of the program, their time and/or expertise in some mutually agreed upon way that will benefit the NCDCTA membership as a whole. For example, a professional could instruct at a clinic or fix-a-test event; you could organize a fundraising event to benefit future scholarships or write an instructional article. Applicants are encouraged to propose a unique volunteer commitment that may highlight a particular ability or strength of that member. The committee reserves the right to negotiate the details of the commitment prior to dispersal of funds.
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Examples include, but are not limited to, writing an article about concepts or knowledge learned at the program, organizing a fund raising event for the scholarship account, etc. Creativity is encouraged.
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Professionals please note that contributing your time to provide a clinic or instruction at a fix-a-test for NCDCTA members, utilizing knowledge and skills gleaned during your educational program, is a unique way in which you can fulfill this commitment.
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