Four Ohio high school athletic departments have been selected to receive the
first Annual “Award of Excellence” recognition in 2015. The award, a
collaboration between the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) and
the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (OIAAA),
recognizes schools that provide exemplary support and promotion of
education-based athletic programming in their school and community.
Recipients of the inaugural award include:
- Gilmour Academy (Gates Mill, OH); Jeff Walrich, athleticadministrator
- Kilbourne HS (Worthington, OH); Jeff Todd, athletic administrator
- Ottawa Hills HS (Toledo, OH); Tim Erickson, athletic administrator
- Streetsboro HS (Streetsboro, OH); Randy Tevepaugh, athletic administrator
The focus of the award is to recognize on-going and consistent efforts on
the part of Ohio interscholastic athletic departments that demonstrate best
practice in the endorsement and promotion of education-based athletic
programming. Specifically, this award recognizes schools that demonstrate
intentional efforts to shift the culture of school-based sport programs as
an on-going process.
Dr. Dan Ross, Commissioner of the OHSAA, Jerry Snodgrass, Assistant
Commissioner of the OHSAA and Bruce Brown, Executive Director of the OIAAA
issued the following joint statement on the inaugural presentation of the
award: “Ohio interscholastic athletic programs have always been considered
some of the most exemplary programs in the country in reflecting the value
our schools and communities place upon education-based sports. The
recipients of the ‘Award of Excellence” have demonstrated a consistent and
intentional plan to keep the focus of their sport programs upon delivering
life-long skills for all participants and mirroring the educational mission
of their respective institutions.”
The OHSAA and the OIAAA believe there are several benchmarks which identify
quality, education-based athletic programs:
- School athletic programs are inherently educational
- School athletic programs compliment the educational experience
- School athletic programs enhance the educational mission of theschool
- School athletic programs serve as an extension of the academicclassroom
- School athletic programs teach life lessons not regularly available in the academic classroom
- School athletic programs have courts, fields, tracks, pools and courses as teaching classrooms
Award recipients will be honored during the 2015 Ohio Boys State Basketball
Championships (March 26-28) at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The
Ohio State University. For additional details on the “Award of Excellence”
criteria, go to:
http://oiaaa2.wpengine.com/news/2015/01/06/oiaaa-and-ohsaa-launch-award-of-excellence/
