The Better Business Bureau and the Arizona Interscholastic Association have named four Valley students as recipients of its annual Ethical Athlete Scholarship program.

The athletes were chosen based on self nominations after being evaluated by a panel of judges for their ability to uphold integrity in the face of ethical and personal challenges when playing a sport on and off the court.

The program, in its eighth year, honors these behaviors and their positive influence on others.

Each Ethical Athlete wins a $1,000 scholarship and Ethical Champions are awarded an additional $2,500 scholarship.

Winners of the 2022-23 BBB Ethical Champion Scholarship are:

• Maritza Bautista, golf and softball athlete from Cesar Chavez High School in Laveen.
• Leah Pedersen, soccer and basketball athlete from Sedona Rock High School in Sedona.

Winners of the 2022-23 BBB Ethical Athlete Scholarship are:

• Maritza Bautista, golf and softball athlete from Cesar Chavez High School in Laveen
• Brian Gramajo Avila, soccer athlete from Washington High School in Phoenix.
• Leah Pedersen, soccer and basketball athlete from Sedona Rock High School in Sedona.
• Matthew Griffin, baseball athlete from Williams Field High School in Gilbert.
• Declan M. Norris cross country and track and field athlete from Northland Preparatory Academy in Flagstaff.
• Jazmyn Schrader basketball, volleyball and track and field athlete from Pusch Ridge Christian Academy in Oro Valley.

Each athlete overcame numerous obstacles to rise in academics and athletics. From a young age, Maritza Bautista lived in many group homes and was also separated from her younger siblings. But in 2020, she was adopted by a family and will be the first in her family to attend college.

She was nominated by Coach Sergio Acosta, who shared that Bautista teaches her teammates to be accurate when keeping score and to report penalty strokes even when no one is watching. She believes that winning with integrity is more than cheating the game, her opponents, or the golf course.

Although she was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in 2020, Leah Pedersen was able to persevere through her mental health disorder with hard work, self-love, and the support from her family and friends. As a result, she also started a mental health club at her school called Bring Change to Mind.

Pedersen was nominated by her mother who shared that Leah faced a teammate that verbally and physically abused her and other teammates. Leah stood up to her teammate and said her behavior was unacceptable and needed to stop.

“I never expected my ethical morals to be valued or for my experience in dealing with difficult situations to be congratulated. I choose to lead with ethics because it not only makes me feel like a better person, but because it makes other people better. Ethics are truly the way to create teams that are like family,” shared BBB Ethical Champion Leah Pedersen.

Arizona high school athletes must have a GPA of at least 2.75, enrolled in an AIA sanctioned school while participating in an AIA sanctioned sport were eligible to be nominated for the scholarship. Nominations for the scholarship are now open at athlete.bbbcommunity.org.