2015 Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award winners announced
The 2015 winners of the Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award are:
College Division: “Invisible Barriers: Why Baseball Isn’t America’s National Pastime” by Emma Charlesworth-Seiler, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota
Emma is a student at Hamline University, majoring in Political Sociology. She was a recipient of the Yoseloff Scholarship to attend SABR 45 in Chicago and is also a previous winner of the SABR Negro Leagues Committee essay contest in 2013. Her baseball interests include the Minnesota Twins, collecting baseball autographs and memorabilia, playing, coaching, and umpiring baseball, scoring for the St. Paul Saints, and being involved with the Halsey Hall SABR chapter in Minnesota. She is involved with the Minnesota Girls Baseball Association, helping girls gain opportunities to play baseball. She also enjoys playing piano, drawing, volunteering, and traveling.
High School Division: “Branch Rickey: A Vision of an Integrated Future,” by Sam Hubert, De Soto High School, Shawnee, Kansas
Sam is a ninth-grader at De Soto High School in De Soto, Kansas. He enjoys many subjects in school, including science, math, and history. His interest in playing and learning about sports led him to compete at National History Day with his documentary, “Branch Rickey: A Vision of an Integrated Future.” He later edited the script for the documentary into a historical paper and submitted it for the Jack Kavanagh Award. He has learned strong research skills through this competition, and hopes to be able to apply them to his future education.
Click the link above to download Sam’s winning essay.
No award was given in the middle school division. The winners will receive a plaque honoring their achievement, a $200 prize, and a one-year membership to SABR.
The Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award was established in 1999 by the Society for American Baseball Research in recognition of Kavanagh’s writing and research achievements and his contributions to SABR. The Kavanagh Award may be presented each year for either a research presentation given at the SABR National Convention (papers must accompany any oral presentation), or for a research paper that is submitted to the awards committee between the end of one SABR Convention and no later than June 1 of the following year by a researcher in grades 6-8 (middle school category), grades 9-12 (high school category), or undergraduates 22 and under (College Category).
For more information, contact Leslie Heaphy.
Winning entries from previous years can be viewed by clicking here.
Originally published: July 9, 2015. Last Updated: July 9, 2015.