ACC Football News

Virginia Tech Named Sportsmanship School of the Year.

Greensboro, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced the recipients of the 2008 Spring Sportsmanship Awards. Teams receiving the awards have conducted themselves with a high degree of character and good sportsmanship, as determined by a vote of the league’s players and coaches.

Virginia Tech was named the recipient of the ACC Sportsmanship School of the Year Award for the 2007-08 academic year. A traveling trophy will be on display for one year at Virginia Tech, which was named the sportsmanship winner in five sports and leads all schools with 19 awards since joining the ACC in 2004.

The conference presents sportsmanship awards for each of its 25 sponsored sports. The concept of these awards was created by the ACC Student Athlete Advisory Committee in an effort to recognize teams who earned the utmost regard from their peers during competition. As is stated in the conference’s Mission Statement, “It [the ACC] strongly adheres to the principles of integrity and sportsmanship, and supports the total development of the student-athlete and each member institution’s athletics department staff, with the intent of producing enlightened leadership for tomorrow.”

Seven schools - Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech - were recognized by their peers as the sportsmanship award winners for the league’s 11 sponsored spring sports. The award is the fourth straight for the Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team. The Clemson rowing team is a repeat winner from 2007.

The following is a complete list of the 2008 Spring Sportsmanship Award recipients:

Sportsmanship Award

History

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) established the ACC Sportsmanship Award starting with the 2003-04 academic year as approved by the Athletic Directors and Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs) in the February 2003 joint meeting. It was noted that this initiative may assist in promoting the ideals of sportsmanship throughout the Conference. The ACC Sportsmanship Award is comprised of two awards. A Team Sportsmanship Award that shall be sponsored for all sports and will be given to the team that displays the best sporting behavior or generally conduct themselves with a high degree of character and good sportsmanship, coaches included. The Sportsmanship School of the Year Award will be determined by the total number of wins for team sportsmanship awards.

After its first year in existence, the SAAC modified the voting requirements to require that at least 85% of an institutions total number of teams participate in the Sportsmanship Award voting in order for the school to be eligible for the Sportsmanship Award. It was also required to award t-shirts to the participants of the winning teams. Starting with the 2006-07 academic year, the FARs accepted the SAAC proposal to only require signatures of the head coach, a team captain, a team SAAC member and a senior woman administrator or sports supervisor to represent the team's vote. 

Team Sportsmanship Award
Criteria

• The conference shall sponsor a sportsmanship award for all sports. This award will be given to the team that displayed the best sporting behavior or generally conducted themselves with a high degree of character and good sportsmanship, coaches included.
• Must be an intercollegiate athletics team during the particular academic year in which they are nominated.
• The noteworthy act or acts of sportsmanship must have occurred during the particular academic year in which they are nominated.
• The teams will be judged by their peers. At the conclusion of each championship all head coaches will receive a nomination form to complete with input from their student-athletes.
• There will be one winner per sport. 
   
  Voting Instructions
   
• All members of your teams shall vote for the institution they feel most deserving of the sportsmanship award for this year. However, starting with the 2006-07 year, signatures of the head coach, a team captain, a team SAAC member and a senior woman administrator or sports supervisor will represent the team's vote.
• You may NOT vote for your own team.
• All sports shall vote for the top four schools. (1-highest deserving the award)
• In order for your team to win the sportsmanship award, your team must vote.
• All ballots should be returned within 10 days of receipt. Forms may be faxed to the ACC office at 336-369-0065. 
   
  ACC Sportsmanship School of the Year Award

  Criteria

• In order to be eligible to win the ACC Sportsmanship School of the Year Award, 85% of a school's sports teams must participate in voting.
• All institutions sport winners will count toward the sportsmanship school of the year award. Each school's winners will be selected by percentages. For example, if your institution has 25 sports and you have five winners, your percentage will be 20%. The institution with highest percentage will win the award.

Tags: ACC, Sportsmanship award