MAJOR AWARDS FOR SCHOOLS AT NCHSAA ANNUAL MEETING

CHAPEL HILL– Two major awards will be presented to schools for the fourth year in a row at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Annual Meeting on May 6 at the Smith Center on the University of North Carolina campus.

Myers Park High School of Charlotte is the fourth annual winner of the Exemplary School Award while Sanderson High School of Raleigh is the winner of the 2010 Sportsmanship Award.

The awards are given as a cooperative venture among the NCHSAA, the North Carolina Coaches Association and the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association. In addition to a trophy and a banner for display at the respective schools, each school received a $1000 cash award.

The Exemplary School Award recognizes the top overall school in the state in terms of the “total program,” including but not limited to athletic success, scope of athletic opportunities offered, facilities, community interest and involvement, academics and the like.

Myers Park has been an exceptional school since its founding in 1951 with a great tradition of academic and athletic success. Myers Park teams have earned over 50 NCHSAA state championships through the years, won three state Wachovia Cup titles during the first decade of this century and have won seven Wachovia Conference Cups in the last 10 years.

Over 700 students at Myers Park compete in interscholastic athletics. Academically, Myers Park has been ranked among the top 50 schools in the country by Newsweek magazine, and over 19 countries are represented in the diverse culture on campus.

The sportsmanship honor is designed to recognize a school that has been ejection free, has a plan to promote and implement good sportsmanship, is welcoming to visiting fans, makes appropriate accommodations for officials and their own fans demonstrate good sportsmanship.

Sanderson has long promoted sportsmanship, as the athletic department has awarded a Sportsmanship Award to one male and female student-athlete in their program who best exemplify good sportsmanship for the last 42 years. The school advertises and posts a list of spectator “do’s and don’ts” at Sanderson athletic events, public address announcers read a sportsmanship message before contests and an appeal to good sportsmanship is found in the Sanderson souvenir program.

The school also works to create a welcoming environment for officials working the game as well as visiting teams who come there to play.

The process of selection for both the awards is a multi-tiered one, including nominations and feedback from schools to select finalists, and then the finalists submitted applications with specific information relative to their potential award.

“Myers Park and Sanderson have set themselves apart during the 2009-10 academic year by earning these prestigious honors,” said Davis Whitfield, NCHSAA executive director. “We applaud their commitments in the areas of sportsmanship and overall excellence.”

Greenville Rose won the inaugural Exemplary School award in 2007 while North Duplin was the Sportsmanship winner. In 2008, Watauga won the Exemplary School while Asheboro earned the Sportsmanship honor, and last year Fayetteville Jack Britt was the Exemplary School with Hendersonville taking the Sportsmanship award.