By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Feb 05, 2018 at 6:01 PM

As part of the Wisconsin Sports Awards Scholarship Contest, Cousins Subs is offering $20,000 in scholarships to high school senior athletes from around the state, as well as the opportunity to attend the Wisconsin Sports Awards event.

It’s the sixth straight year Cousins’ Make It Better Foundation has awarded scholarships to finalists, who, along with their families, get to attend the exclusive VIP event on Aug. 22 that celebrates the best of Wisconsin sports, walk the blue carpet and be recognized in front of the state's finest high school, college and professional athletes.

From Feb. 1-28, any high school senior who is graduating in 2018, has participated in a WIAA sanctioned sport and has excelled in academics and community service can apply for the scholarship. Following the contest entry period, the Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation Board of Directors will select four finalists – two $7,500 scholarships to one male and one female, two $2,500 scholarships to one male and one female.

"Since 1972, Cousins has stayed true to its beginnings and continues to invest in its local communities," said Justin McCoy, vice president of marketing at Cousins Subs, in a statement. "The Wisconsin Sports Award Scholarship Contest taps into Cousins’ long-standing tradition of giving back by recognizing and awarding the hard work of high school senior-athletes throughout Wisconsin as they pursue their academic and athletic journeys."

The scholarships are funded through the Cousins Subs Make It Better Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to funding causes that address health and wellness, hunger and youth education in the communities Cousins serves. For more information or to apply for a scholarship, visit cousinssubs.com/scholarship.

Check out this behind-the-scenes video from the 2017 Wisconsin Sports Awards: 

And, in honor of Jabari Parker returning to the court after a year out due to a knee injury, watch this excellent tribute to the Bucks forward, a spoken-word performance from last year’s Wisconsin Sports Awards by local artist and musician Christopher McIntyre Perceptions:

Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.