National Award Recognizes 4 High School Programs For Off-The-Field Prowess

Media contact:
Michael Austin
Editor-in-Chief
(503) 490-9872
[email protected]

National Award Recognizes 4 High School
Programs For Off-The-Field Prowess

BROOKFIELD, Wis.—Coach And Athletic Director magazine is pleased to announce The Overlake School (Redmond, Wash.), Mary Institute And St. Louis Country Day School (St. Louis, Mo.), St. Anthony Village High School (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Vista Murrieta High School (Murrieta, Calif.) have been recognized with the inaugural Interscholastic Sports Program of Excellence award, honoring the nation’s best athletic departments for their off-the-field achievements.

The Program of Excellence was created to honor athletic departments not for their accomplishments on the field but their overall commitment to promoting a positive experience for student-athletes. Coach And Athletic Director received nominations for schools in 33 states and an independent panel of judges chose the inaugural class of honorees. They were selected based on their success in eight categories: participation rate, coaches certification, community service, athletic director national certification, scholar-athlete status, level of participation, sportsmanship and parent participation.

Here is a quick glimpse at the school, the category it won and what impressed the judges the most:

• The Overlake School (private school less than 500 enrollment): An 82 percent participation rate; outstanding community-service projects spanning local, state and international reach
• Mary Institute And St. Louis Country Day School (private school more than 500 enrollment): Student-athletes possess a 3.29 GPA; all 99 coaches have completed the National Federation Coaching Certification Program
• St. Anthony Village High School (public school less than 1,000 enrollment): Parents volunteer 1,500 hours annually; Leadership Council provides athletes with unique training
• Vista Murrieta High School (public school more than 1,000 enrollment): More than 1,000 students are part of school-spirit group (Bronco Bleacher Creatures); all athletic teams decide on their own community-service projects

“Our independent panel of judges has no trouble coming to a consensus about the four honored programs and after associate editor Kevin Hoffman and I visited these schools, I’m convinced we’ve assembled the best inaugural class possible,” says Michael Austin, Editor-in-Chief of Coach And Athletic Director. “This award has been developed to discover the positives in high school athletics and to showcase how to run an athletic department based on overall development of teenagers and not just wins and losses.”

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