Underscoring its commitment to education, the Italian American Baseball Foundation has announced its 2022-2023 college scholarship recipients and has nearly tripled its giving from last year’s inaugural class of students.
Scholarship recipients are college baseball or softball players with Italian heritage and hold a strong academic standing. Every scholarship recipient wrote a personal statement about the meaning of their heritage and went through an interview process with the IABF Scholarship Committee.
“IABF is committed to developing the next generation of great Italian American baseball and softball players and part of that is our scholarship program,” said IABF President/Foundation Joe Quagliano. “We believe that a strong education is the backbone for growth and future success and it’s our privilege to recognize these students for their dedication to their studies and the game we all love.”
For the first time, IABF has a repeat scholarship recipient as well. Francesco Bonvini, who plays at Kingsborough Community College and hails from Parma, Italy, had a remarkable freshman season and is back again. IABF was proud of his Conference MVP campaign and drive to succeed in America. Bonvini is also the first to receive the Sons of Italy Foundation scholarship in partnership with IABF.
2022-2023 IABF Scholarship Winners
About IABF: The Italian American Baseball Foundation (IABF) is a registered 501c3 charity committed to the future of baseball and softball for Italian & Italian–American youths on the high school, college and professional levels. While we move forward, we remember those who paved the way and brought us recognition and respect. Names like Dimaggio, Berra, Rizzuto, Righetti, and Franco still resonate today among the young students of the game. The IABF is adamant about adding new names to the list of Italian–American Baseball greats. Each year we sponsor several showcases and clinics that are conducted by former MLB players and top college coaches. We invite professional scouts and college recruiters to attend and evaluate the talent. We are working closely with several colleges and are deeply committed to helping those who qualify academically achieve a college education through baseball and softball. The IABF provides citizenship documentation assistance for Americans to play on the Italian Olympic and WBC Baseball teams. The IABF donates equipment to individuals, teams, and leagues that qualify. Helping families by giving their children the opportunity to have the proper equipment is as important to us as if it was our own children.
