Golden Eagles win OVC soccer Sportsmanship Award
On Friday the Ohio Valley Conference announced that Tennessee Tech University is the recipient of the 2009-10 Team Sportsmanship Award for women’s soccer.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - On Friday the Ohio Valley Conference
announced that Tennessee Tech University is the recipient of the
2009-10 Team Sportsmanship Award for women's soccer.
Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective
sports, the team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads
deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and
ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the
areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches,
staff and administrators and fans.
"Without sportsmanship there are truly no meaningful victories,"
said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. "The recipients of the OVC
Team Sportsmanship awards should accept this award with great pride
for their fellow competitors have made it clear their teams
exemplify the best in intercollegiate athletics. In receiving this
prestigious honor other competitors are saying these
student-athletes compete with class, respect their opponents and
value fair play. That is quite a compliment as those are all traits
that will lead to true victories throughout the course of
life."
The 2009-10 school year marks the fifth year the team sportsmanship
honors have been awarded. This marks the first award for the
Tennessee Tech soccer program.
Tennessee Tech finished the 2009 season with a 7-12-3 overall
record and 3-3-2 in the OVC. The Golden Eagles, the No. 4 seed in
the OVC Tournament, won two games at the event and advanced to the
Championship match before losing to Murray State in the finals.
"We are extremely honored to have been awarded the Team
Sportsmanship Award this year," said Becky Fletcher, Tennessee Tech
head soccer coach. "Our goal for our young ladies is to set a
standard on and off the field. We couldn't be more pleased to be
recognized by our fellow OVC coaches."
Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent
addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates
sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league
established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented
annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior
status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late
Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator. Five years
later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented
annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have
best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior
as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.
In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a first-of-its-kind
"Sportsmanship Statement," a policy promoting principles of fair
play, ethical conduct and respect for one's opponent. The
statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission
to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics, and has become a
model for others to follow across the nation.
