RENO -- The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and Farmers Insurance Group have unveiled a scholarship program worth about $3,000 each to 10 student-athletes at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.

The NIAA made the announcement on its Web site (www.NIAA.com).

The NIAA is the non-profit governing body of high school athletics in Nevada. Farmers Insurance Group is the co-title sponsor along with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The scholarships will range from $2,500 to $5,000; it is an effort by Farmers (which has an agency in the Pahrump Valley) to assist students headed for college and are signed to continue their athletic careers at an NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA college or university.

Farmers signed to become a NIAA sponsor of state championship events and general association happenings in summer 2007. According to the NIAA, Farmers will soon "be offering a wide variety of educational initiatives, support programs and wellness materials for each high school community through local agent offices."

"The scholarship program is the first of its kind within the National Federation of State High School Associations' family," said Eddie Bonine, executive director of the NIAA. "It will give Nevada's top student-athletes a great head start in their collegiate athletics careers."

Scholarship funds will be distributed between three regions of the state -- Northern, Eastern and Southern -- in the form of college-university tuition aid. The NIAA will conduct a scholarship search beginning in March 2008 through a student-athlete application process.

The scholarship distribution, according to the NIAA, will be:

Region I -- Washoe County/Northwestern, $5,000 total each year ($2,500 each for a boy and girl).

Region II and III -- Rural/Eastern, $5,000 total each year ($2,500 each for a boy and girl).

Region IV -- Clark County/Southern, $10,000 each year ($2,500 each for two boys, $2,500 each for two girls).

Grand NIAA-Farmers Scholarships, $10,000 each year (one $5,000 boy and one $5,000 girl scholarships).

All scholarships will be a one-time distribution (at the start of the freshman year in college), said the NIAA.