Five exemplary young sports and fitness professionals have been named to the class of 2014 Future Industry Leaders Scholarship Program, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) announced. This competitive, application-based scholarship program provides complimentary SFIA Industry Leaders Summit registration, affording a learning and networking opportunity unmatched in the industry. Eligible applicants were required to be under 40 years old, currently work for an SFIA Corporate member company and have executive, “C” level aspirations. All applicants were asked to provide their vision for the future of the sports and fitness industry and how they intend to contribute to that vision.

This year’s class includes:
•    John Bodin (Outbound Logistics Manager at Evoshield)
•    Ryan Farrar (Director of Fall Products at Rawlings)
•    Mike Gugat (Senior Sales Manager at Adidas Group)
•    Jocelyn Vande Velde (Director of Education and Sales Training, Johnson Health Tech, Inc.)
•    Elyse Winer (Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications at MC10, Inc.)

Next week, each scholar will be highlighted with in-depth interviews on the SFIAinsider blog and featured in the SFIA Weekly e-newsletter.

“We’re proud of the accomplishments and diversity this year’s class brings,” said SFIA President & CEO Tom Cove. “As the association for the sports and fitness industry, it is an integral part of our mission to help develop our future leaders. We look forward to recognizing these outstanding professionals in front of the industry’s leading executives.”

The scholarship recipients will be acknowledged at the SFIA Industry Leaders Summit dinner on September 16, 2014 at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. With a focus on preparing attendees and their businesses for the future, the 2014 SFIA Industry Leaders Summit presented by ETS Corp., appeals to sports and fitness industry executives who are looking for a compact, dynamic learning and networking event that won’t take them away from their operations for an extended period of time. To view the current agenda and register for the Summit, please visit www.sfia.org/ils.