Scholarships

The Koczela Scholarships

The Koczela Scholarships are awarded each Spring to baseball and softball student athletes who demonstrate character attributes identified in the DC Batter Up! mission statement. The scholarships are named for the late Jack Koczela, who was a lifelong D.C. resident, a tireless community advocate, a diehard baseball fan, and one of the founders of our organization. Jack is remembered for his dedicated work in support of the city and for demonstrating the highly regarded character traits common to our scholarship awardees – leadership, teamwork, and commitment to excellence.

Each year, DC Batter Up! intends to award college scholarships of $1,500 each to several eligible high school seniors. The money shall be applied to books or other supplies and expenses necessary to college study.

How to Apply

Apply by submitting your application via the button below. In addition to submitting an application, all applicants must submit these required materials:

An official high school transcript covering freshman, sophomore, and junior years and an official mid-year grade report for senior year.
A copy of the page of the FAFSA Submission Summary that shows the applicant's Student Aid Index (SAI) and estimated federal student aid.
A copy of the acceptance letter or email notifying the applicant of his or her acceptance to the college the applicant plans to attend in the fall.

Apply Here

The final deadline for submission of application materials for the 2025 Koczela Scholarships is May 16, 2025. However, DC Batter Up! urges applicants to submit their materials, if at all possible, by May 9, 2025, which is the date when the Scholarship Committee will begin its consideration of applicants.

Rules & Eligibility

Before applying, please review the scholarship rules and eligibility requirements

To be eligible for these scholarships, a student must:

Be a high school senior who will enroll as a first-year student at an accredited two-year or four-year college in the fall after the student's high school graduation.
Be a member of a Varsity baseball or softball team during the spring season of the student's senior year at a high school located in the District of Columbia.
Be a resident of the District of Columbia who requires financial aid in order to attend college or university.
Submit all application materials required by DC Batter Up!

However, relatives of members of the Board of Directors of DC Batter Up! are ineligible even if they fulfill the requirements listed above.

The scholarship recipients shall be selected by the Board of Directors of DC Batter Up! based on an evaluation of academic and other accomplishments as well as financial need. DC Batter Up! shall provide to each recipient formal written notification of his or her scholarship. DC Batter Up! reserves the right to withdraw any scholarship that it concludes will not be used, or is not being used, in accordance with the goals and purposes of the program.

"I am proud to say that I received an invitation from the honor society Phi Beta Kappa to become a member and I gladly accepted. [In college,] I had the opportunity to grow as a person, student, and a woman ..."

- Past Recipient

"WOW where do I begin? I got my degree in Education and a Minor in Educational Psychology. I was also blessed to create a mentorship program... My impressions of the college experience is there is no way this can be real. I met a lot of cool and fun people... and the times there will never be forgotten."

- Past Recipient

Scholarships

The Koczela Scholarships

Past Recipients

2020 Recipients

2020 Recipients

2020 Recipients

2021 Recipients

2020 Recipients

2020 Recipients

How to Apply

Rules & Eligibility

Before applying, please review the scholarship rules and eligibility requirements

Hard Copy Application

Some of our scholarship recipients' college majors

College sports played