The Tampa Bay Buccaneers today became the first NFL team to establish a groundbreaking scholarship program benefiting female high school football players. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Girls in Football Scholarship Fund is made possible through a $250,000 commitment from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Foundation and is open to all female high school seniors nationwide who participate in a formally sanctioned flag or tackle football program.

"In the state of Florida alone, we have 260 sanctioned girls flag football teams, yet there are no scholarship opportunities for those female athletes after high school that help reduce the burden of their college tuition," said Buccaneers Owner/President of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Foundation and Glazer Family Foundation Darcie Glazer Kassewitz. "We wanted to fill that void by creating a scholarship program that would reward young women for their academic success as well as encourage them to play football."

The scholarship is the latest initiative from the Buccaneers' extensive commitment to connecting with girls and young women through flag football. In 2018, the team partnered with the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation department to launch the Jr. Bucs Girls Flag Football League, which is comprised of 24 local recreation center teams that each received new equipment from the Buccaneers. Also, through their Jr. Bucs Flag Football middle school program, the Buccaneers have reached 35,000 girls with flag football equipment that was donated to over 90 middle schools. Last March, the Buccaneers hosted the country's largest girls flag football event at the team's AdventHealth Training Center with more than 40 teams and nearly 1,000 girls participating in the weekend-long, round robin-style tournament.

Applicants for the scholarship must have plans to enroll in a full-time accredited four-year college or university and have earned a minimum 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) during their high school academic career. The inaugural round of awards will be distributed at the conclusion of the 2020 academic school year.

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