The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) announced the winners of the 7th annual Future Industry Leaders Scholarship Program. The 2019 scholarship has been awarded to Tommy Acchione (Engineering Manager, STX), Brian Dietrich (Coordinator of Marketing & Sales, Rapsodo), Kelsey Ping (Marketing Operations Manager, Riddell), Susan Riley (Director of Brand Marketing, BSN Sports), Hewan Teshome (Corporate Counsel, VICIS) and Matthew Weiss (Director of Marketing, Retail, Events & Sports Marketing, Brooks Running).

The program rewards young, hard-working individuals in sports and fitness, who aspire to lead future generations of business executives in the industry. The scholars receive complimentary access to SFIA’s annual Industry Leaders Summit, where they are recognized and applauded for their dedication to the world of sports and fitness. This year, the summit will be held in Baltimore, MD on September 25-26. For the second year in a row, SFIA has expanded the program to award six deserving individuals with the scholarship. While all applicants are required to be employed by an SFIA corporate member company, this year’s scholars represent the diversity of the industry, as they come from all different backgrounds, company sizes and product categories.

“We are proud and excited to highlight terrific young talent in the sports and fitness industry,” stated SFIA President and CEO, Tom Cove. “This SFIA program is a win win: bringing new leaders to the Industry Leaders Summit helps their professional trajectory, while also injecting the event with new ideas and energy.”

In addition to the many educational aspects of the summit, the scholarship recipients will also contribute a fresh, new perspective to the discussion. The focus of the Industry Leaders Summit is to address and explore the most prominent issues and trends in the industry, allowing the scholars a unique platform to provide insight from current and future generations, helping to further guide the conversation.

To learn more about the 2019 SFIA Industry Leaders Summit, click here.