Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship

This scholarship awards $2,500 to an undergraduate student of Asian American Pacific Islander descent pursuing sports journalism as a career. Applicants will be judged on academic and journalistic achievement, financial need, a strong commitment to a sports journalism career and dedication to AAJA’s mission.

This year’s scholarship will mark the 10th anniversary of the Sports Task Force / Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship.

ELIGIBILITY AND RULES

Recipients must be an active AAJA member (join here)
Applicants must be an undergraduate student enrolled full-time with at least 12 credit units each semester at a junior college or university located in the United States
Applicants must be of Asian American and/or Pacific Islander descent
Applicants must be currently taking or planning to take journalism courses and/or pursuing sports journalism as a career
Applicants must have a minimum 3.0 GPA
The winner must use the scholarship funds to directly support or advance their education. Potential expenses include tuition, room and board, textbooks or other course equipment or materials. The recipient must follow up with the Sports Task Force within 60 days of receipt of the scholarship to identify how they spent the fund
The selected scholarship recipient must commit to a minimum of five hours of volunteer work for the AAJA Sports Task Force, preferably before and at the next annual AAJA Convention

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Resume
School Transcript
Journalistic work samples
Contact information for two references
Essay (up to 1,000 words)
Explain why you want this scholarship, why you want to pursue sports journalism/media and how the financial support of this scholarship would help your long-term career goals. The essay should also address the following questions:
1. What role or responsibility do journalists of color have in a modern press box?
2. What importance does your ethnic or racial identity serve in the way you plan to cover sports as a professional journalist?
3. What makes you stand out from the vast number of other students pursuing sports journalism as a career?
4. What are your strengths and what areas do you still need to improve upon as a journalist?
5. What issues – if any – regarding AAPIs in sports today do you feel need to be addressed?

"It has been my lifelong dream to work in the sports industry, and this scholarship will undoubtedly help me continue reaching my goals. I am so very grateful for Mr. Young’s generosity along with AAJA’s recognition and guidance. I hope to follow in Mr. Young’s footsteps someday and pave the way for aspiring young Asian sports journalists in the future."

Meet the 2025 Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship Recipient

Sydney Chan
Broadcast & Digital Journalism Major, Syracuse University | JCamp ’23

In a special milestone 10th year of the Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship, the Asian American Journalists Association’s Sports Task Force is proud to announce Sydney Chan as the 2025 recipient of the $2,500 in financial aid.

Chan, a broadcast & digital journalism major at Syracuse University, is certainly making her mark in what is her freshman year on campus. She was selected by a judging panel that featured Al Young himself, along with four past recipients of the scholarship.

“It was a very close decision among this year’s applicants,” said Al Young, an award-winning AAJA pioneer and first AAPI sportswriter in the country. “But for Sydney Chan, hopefully, winning the 2025 Al Young Scholarship will move her another step closer to achieving her sports career goal.”
“What a tremendous honor it is to be chosen as the recipient of the Al Young Sports Journalism scholarship!” Chan said. “It has been my lifelong dream to work in the sports industry, and this scholarship will undoubtedly help me continue reaching for my goals.”

Chan grew up in Southern California and has known sports journalism was her desired goal from an early stage. She took part in AAJA’s JCamp program in the summer heading into her senior year of high school, and before she decided to attend Syracuse University, she participated in Syracuse’s program designed for high school students. And before her first day on campus, Chan was able to experience covering the Summer Olympics in Paris.

“From the get-go, as I started reading Sydney’s stories and watching her on-and-behind camera video reels, it was apparent we had someone special,” Young said. “She’s made significant contributions to live sports coverage on ESPN2, ACC Network, Newhouse Sports Media, Adirondack Sports Council, studio shows on Cuse.com as well as serving as an Associate Producer for Citrus TV, one of the largest student-run TV studios in the country. It’s no wonder her colleagues have nicknamed her “the Swiss Army knife” of their ACC Newsroom. All this in only her first semester of her FIRST YEAR! And all while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. Can’t wait to see what her senior year looks like.”
“Sydney’s story is inspiring,” said Michele Steele, the President of AAJA’s Sports Task Force. “She grew up loving sports, her mother is also a journalist, and people doubted she could thrive in this field as an Asian American woman, yet here she is doing just that. She more than earned the Al Young scholarship and seems to be very driven in pursuing her dreams.”

Chan was recently informed by Young himself over the phone that she was this year’s recipient of the Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship.

“I am so very grateful for Mr. Young’s generosity along with AAJA’s recognition and guidance,” Chan said. “I hope to follow in Mr. Young’s footsteps someday and pave the way for aspiring young Asian sports journalists in the future.”

The Al Young Scholarship is dedicated to Young, the first Asian American sports writer to work for a metro daily newspaper. Young worked for several outlets, including the New York Daily News, Boston Globe and USA TODAY before retiring in 2012.

About Al Young

Al Young is an award-winning journalist who blazed many trails for Asian American sports journalists. Young was the nation’s first Asian American sportswriter at a metro daily newspaper and the first to cover the NFL. He also wrote the first weekly column in the country, focusing on athletes, personalities and trends in women’s sports.

Young’s four-decade long career includes positions as a writer and editor at the Boston Globe, USA Today, the New York Daily News, the New Haven (CT) Register and Bridgeport (CT) Post-Telegram.

In 2010, AAJA named Young an “Asian American Pioneer in U.S. journalism.” He is a past president of AAJA’s Washington, D.C. chapter. Following his retirement from the Boston Globe and newspapers in 2013, he was Advisor to “The QC Voice,” the student newspaper at Quincy (MA) College and taught Journalism at Emerson College in Boston. He remains a freelance writer and a media consultant.

About The AAJA Sports Task Force

The Asian American Journalists Association’s Sports Task Force is pleased to offer several scholarship and fellowship opportunities for enrolled college students and young professionals to support their pursuit of careers in sports journalism and media. The selected fellowship winners must commit to a minimum of five hours of volunteer work for the AAJA Sports Task Force.

The AAJA Sports Task Force elevates the voices of Asian Americans in sports and encourages future Asian American sports journalists through mentorship and scholarship opportunities.

To join AAJA’s Sports Task Force or to find out more about the group, please check the “Sports Task Force” box when becoming an AAJA member at aaja.org/join.

Scholarship Recipients and Press By Year