Roy Bates Scholarships awarded for 30th year
Winners of the Roy Bates Scholarships, named for the late Bates, a longtime area broadcaster and coach, have been announced. They will each receive a Bates Foundation one-time scholarship of $2,500 and are finalists for the Bates Player of the Year, which will be announced at a dinner for the scholarship winners and their parents at Greystone Event Center in May.
The 30th annual Roy Bates Scholarship winners were selected recently by the Wayne County Community Foundation.
After a review of nearly 50 applicants representing nine high schools in Wayne County, the following scholarship winners stood out above the rest and will share in a combined $20,000: Waynedale’s Trey Barkman, Wooster’s Blake Bowen, Orrville’s Averi Haley, Dalton’s Ella Lunsford, Triway’s Zack Miller, Northwestern’s Gavin Phillips, Smithville’s Carter Piatt and Chippewa’s Annabel Rodriguez.
They will each receive a Bates Foundation one-time scholarship of $2,500 and are finalists for the Bates Player of the Year, which will be announced at a dinner for the scholarship winners and their parents at Greystone Event Center in May.
The Bates Foundation, which is a component of the Wayne County Community Foundation, will reach $450,000 this year in scholarship money awarded to Wayne County student-athletes over nearly three decades.
Rick Rottman, a 1969 Triway graduate, who’s been a longtime coach and supporter of area athletics, took over as the Bates Foundation committee chairperson in 2021.
Rottman said the Bates committee reviewed another outstanding pool of applicants.
“Almost everyone who submitted an application would have been a good choice to be selected, and that’s great to see,” Rottman said. “There were some really hard decisions to make, which always seems to be the case.”
Barkman has played baseball, basketball and golf for Waynedale. He ranks 27th in a class of 78 with a 3.7 GPA. He is the son of Troy and Jodi Barkman and will attend Ohio University.
Bowen has played baseball and basketball and ranks 47th in a class of 245 with a 3.77 GPA at Wooster. He is the son of Jeff and Tina Bowen and will attend the University of Kentucky.
Haley has played volleyball, basketball and softball at Orrville while compiling a 3.73 GPA that ranks 34th in a class of 94. She is the daughter of Jason and Stacey Haley and will attend Mount Union.
Lunsford played basketball and participated in track for Dalton and has a 4.0 GPA to rank first in a class of 71. She is the daughter of Joey and Wendy Lunsford and will attend Ursuline College.
Miller has played football and basketball and participated in track for Triway and has a 3.69 GPA, which is 26th in a class of 121. He is the son of Ryan and Tonya Miller and will attend The College of Wooster.
Rodriguez has played basketball and softball at Chippewa and has a 4.27 GPA. She is the daughter of Matthew and Lisa Rodriguez and will attend Malone University.
Phillips played football and basketball for Northwestern and ranks second in a class of 108 with a 4.71 GPA. He is the son of Jonovan and Angela Phillips and will attend Ashland University.
Piatt has played basketball, golf and baseball for Smithville and is 15th in a class of 95 with a 4.36 GPA. He is the son of Josh and Julie Piatt and will attend Malone University.
Roy Bates died at age 88 in 2004 after a life that saw him work as a successful teacher, coach, broadcaster, referee, athlete and more.
Bates played baseball and basketball for the now defunct Chester High and coached at both Chester and Northwestern. He even helped Bobby Knight as a basketball assistant at Indiana University.
Bates set up the foundation that bears his name to honor Wayne County senior student-athletes based on character, grades and athletic ability — in that order.
To be eligible, applicants must have at least a 3.0 GPA, be a senior at a Wayne County high school, and play basketball and/or baseball/softball (his favorite sports). The rules state only one athlete per school can receive an award.
The Bates Foundation Executive Committee that chose the 2023 award winners consisted of Keith Snoddy, Aaron Dorksen and Rottman.