Marshfield, Merrill, Wausau West awarded 2019-20 WIAA Award of Excellence

The award promotes and recognizes the efforts and achievements of schools in the areas of sportsmanship, ethics, integrity, leadership and character. Schools and athletics administrators experienced unique and additional challenges this year with school closures and the cancelation of high school activities in the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recipients of the Award of Excellence, presented to high schools that met each of the award’s criteria, are:

Appleton North
Baldwin-Woodville
Baraboo
Brookwood
Clintonville
Crivitz
Divine Savior Holy Angels
Fort Atkinson
Franklin
Hilbert
Hortonville
Johnson Creek
Kenosha Christian Life
Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic
Kenosha Tremper
Kimberly
Lake Mills
Luther
Marshfield
Mayville
Merrill
Monroe
New Berlin Eisenhower
New Berlin West
Northland Pines
Oak Creek
Onalaska
Oregon
Pewaukee
Pius XI Catholic
Racine Horlick
Racine Lutheran
Racine St. Catherine’s
St. Croix Central
Sauk Prairie
Sheboygan Falls
Stoughton
The Prairie School
University School of Milwaukee
Watertown
Waukesha West
Wausau West
West Bend East
Winter
Wisconsin Dells
Wisconsin Lutheran

Three of the 46 schools are receiving the honor for the fourth time, including Baraboo, Racine Horlick and Stoughton. Seven of this year’s recipients are being presented with the award for the third time, including Brookwood, Fort Atkinson, Kimberly, Racine Lutheran, The Prairie School, University School of Milwaukee and Watertown. Another eight of this year’s recipients have earned the award for the second time.

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Recipients will be presented the Award of Excellence at the fall Area Meetings, which will be conducted virtually, and will be recognized for the achievement on the WIAA website, in the WIAA Bulletin and at the 2021 Annual Meeting.

The criteria applied toward the Award of Excellence include:

• Athletic Director maintains and updates all information in the WIAA School Directory annually.
• Athletic Director does due diligence in striving to achieve staff compliance with all WIAA coaching requirements (i.e. rules video, exam, officials’ rankings)
• Athletic director conducted regular occurring meetings with a Captain’s Club/Team Leadership Council/Etc.– sportsmanship, ethics and/or integrity is on the agenda and is discussed
• Athletic director conducted regular occurring meetings with coaches – sportsmanship, ethics and/or integrity is a topic that is on the agenda and is discussed
• Athletic director conducted at least one informational meeting with student-athletes and their parents – sportsmanship, ethics and/or integrity is a topic that is on the agenda and is discussed
• Athletic director attended conference meetings – sportsmanship, ethics and/or integrity is a topic that is on the agenda and is discussed
• Coaches and student-athletes attended a sportsmanship summit/leadership conference/etc.
• There was school representation at one of the seven WIAA Fall Area Meetings
• There was school representation at WIAA Annual Meeting in April
• Athletic Director made the student body aware of sportsmanship initiatives through school assemblies, announcements, posters, etc.
• Three or more athletic teams gave back to their school or community through volunteerism
• Athletic director has taken the Free NFHS Sportsmanship course
• Three or more head coaches have taken the Free NFHS Sportsmanship course
• Athletic program had no coach ejections at any level
• Athletic program had no coach or player assault of an official at any level
• Athletic director nominated/submitted a boy and/or a girl for WIAA Scholar Athlete recognition (either for local or state level recognition)