Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence in Advocacy and Social Justice (IDEAS) Student Award
Please read the full instructions below before starting your application.
Effective as of the 2026 Awards Cycle
Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence in Advocacy and Social Justice (IDEAS) Student Award applications are submitted online through the Cadmium platform.
Click Here to Start Your Application in Cadmium
After you press "save application" upon completing all components of the application, please click the "submit" button at the top right of the screen to move your application from Active to Completed status. The action of clicking "submit" will prompt the system to email the applicant a confirmation of the submitted application. Clicking "submit" is the final step to submit your award application for consideration. Award nominees with a sponsor will be required to invite their sponsor to certify the nomination in Cadmium prior to final submission.
The purpose of the IDEAS Student Award is to recognize and honor the achievements of students involved in research, service, or applied experiences that focus on diversity, inclusion, social justice, or advocacy in sport and performance psychology. The recipient receives a check for $1,000, a waived Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Annual Conference registration fee in the year of the award, and a plaque presented at the conference.
Award Criteria
Applicants for the award must meet the following criteria:
- Be a current AASP student member at the time of submission.
- Have made important contributions to the field of sport and performance psychology in the area of diversity, inclusion, social justice, or advocacy, including but not limited to research, service, or applied work with clients, organizations, or community groups. Applicants need only fulfill one area (i.e., research, service, or applied work) to be eligible.
Important contributions may look like:
- Implementation of advocacy or social justice initiatives within an organization,
- Use of culturally-informed and responsive practices within diverse populations that created sustained and meaningful change with person(s) and community served,
- Publications,
- Development of manuals/workbooks,
- Presentation(s) at the annual conference,
- Guest lectures,
- Community service work, and/or
- Presentation(s) at a sport-related, relevant conference related to diversity and inclusion (e.g., Diversity in Sport Conference, Social Justice through Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium) will be considered, however, the presentation needs to coincide with the AASP Position Statement on Human Diversity.
Submission Requirements
- A three-page essay which addresses:
- How the student incorporates issues of diversity, inclusion, social justice, or advocacy into their research, service, and/or applied work, and
- The importance of addressing these issues in the field of sport and performance psychology.
- A letter of recommendation from an AASP professional member familiar with the student’s work.
- An updated curriculum vitae.
- Sample of one diversity, inclusion, social justice, or advocacy-related product (e.g., publication, podcast, workbook).
- NOTE: This sample is for AASP Diversity Committee review only. This information will not be duplicated or shared with others.
- The Cadmium submission platform requires that the file uploads be in PDF format.
Nominations
- AASP student members may nominate themselves and are encouraged to do so. In addition, AASP professional members are encouraged to sponsor the nomination of qualified individuals for this award.
Award Recognition
- The recipient receives a check for $1,000.
- The Annual Conference registration fee will be waived in the year of the award.
- A plaque will be given to the award winner(s) at the conference.
- Plaque to read: "In recognition of achievement for important contributions to the field of sport and performance psychology in the areas of diversity, inclusion, social justice, and advocacy."
*Deadline for this award: April 15 of each year.
