Basil’s Sports Bar and Grill in Weirton, West Virginia, has maintained its tradition of awarding scholarships to deserving area athletes on a yearly basis for the past six years.
Zach Smith, who plays football and baseball for the Big Red, is shown here with Buckeye Kaydence Kinyo, a local athlete who participated in softball, basketball, and cheerleading, was honored as one of the 2023 beneficiaries and awarded with a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 during a luncheon held in their honor inside “The Dugout” at Basil’s on Thursday afternoon.
They were chosen from a pool of applicants that included more than fifty local athletes competing for ten different high schools located in Jefferson County, Hancock County, and Brooke County. writings were submitted by applicants, and those writings were reviewed by members of the Basil family.
Finalist essays were then blind read and scored by a panel in order to choose a winner. While Kinyo is planning to continue her schooling at Ohio State University, Smith has a contract to play baseball at Malone University. Smith will be attending Malone University.
As a constructive approach to contribute to the community in the Upper Ohio Valley, Basil’s intends to keep providing its yearly award to deserving students. — Andrew Grimm
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