Alice Bixler Scholarship Program
The Alice Bixler Scholarship Program was established in 2008 to honor Alice Bixler for her many contributions to the sport of BMX and to the Florida State BMX program.
Alice first became involved with BMX in 1974 when she took the neighborhood kids to the local track in Sarasota. It wasn’t long before she started volunteering at the track as a scorer and began her love for the sport. In 1979, the Sarasota track joined the sanction of the National Bicycle League and that same year, Florida formed the Sunshine State BMX Association (SSA). The SSA’s purpose was to coordinate the state championship series and grow BMX in Florida. She joined the board and was elected secretary but within a few months everyone else on the board resigned and she became the State Race Commissioner of Florida. And she’s never looked back.
The first NBL President’s Cup race was held in 1984, a state against state competition. Florida won the President’s Cup 23 times, two of the Cups were retired to Florida. Alice was there for every single one of them! She was also involved with the NBL in many capacities throughout the years. She was honored by the NBL as Volunteer of the Year in 1995. In 2008 she was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame.
Under Alice’s leadership, Florida created the best and largest state program, while being sanctioned by NBL. In the past, there were as many as 22 tracks in Florida. Presently, there are 15 tracks in the state that are sanctioned through USA BMX.
In 2007, after 33 years of volunteer service, she decided that it was time to pass the primary leadership role of the SSA to some of the capable volunteers already deeply involved with the state program. That same year, to honor her support for BMX in Florida, the SSA created a scholarship program and named it after Alice.
In its first year, the Alice Bixler Scholarship program awarded three scholarships totaling $4,350. As of 2019, the program has awarded 113 scholarships totaling $104,750.
PURPOSE: The Alice Bixler Scholarship Program was created to assist students and their families with meeting the costs of furthering their education at an undergraduate college, technical/trade school or graduate school.
DEADLINE: Postmarked or emailed to scholarship@usabmx.com by April 1, 2020.
HOW AWARDED: The award will be presented to the recipient at the Florida State Championship Series Awards Ceremony. If you are unable to be at the awards ceremony, you will be notified by mail. The actual check will be sent directly to the Financial Aid office of the recipient’s intended school.