The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) has released the names of 33 schools that have met the criteria to be honored as recipients of its Award of Excellence in 2020-21.
The recipients of the Award of Excellence, presented to high schools that have verified they have met each of the award’s criteria, include Fort Atkinson, Lake Mills and Watertown.
Five of this year’s recipients, including Fort Atkinson and Watertown, are being presented with the award for the fourth time in the five years since the award’s inception, the association announced in a recent news release.
The award promotes and recognizes the efforts and achievements of schools in the areas of sportsmanship, ethics, integrity, leadership and character, the release stated.
For the second straight year, schools and athletics administrators experienced additional challenges in 2020-21 with the COVID-19 pandemic to account for guidelines, accommodations and schedule changes.
A full list of schools is here: Baraboo, Beaver Dam, Brookwood, Crivitz, Divine Savior Holy Angels, Elkhorn, Fort Atkinson, Germantown, Hilbert, Hortonville, Janesville Craig, Kenosha, Christian Life, Kimberly, Lake Holcombe, Lake Mills, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Madison West, Marshfield, Mayville, Muskego, Onalaska, Oregon, Stoughton, Stratford, The Prairie School, Watertown, Wausau West, West Bend West, Winnebago Lutheran, Winter, and Wisconsin Dells.
Recipients will be presented the Award of Excellence at the fall Area Meetings, which will be conducted in-person, and will be recognized for the achievement on the WIAA website and at the 2022 Annual Meeting, the release continued.
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).
The WIAA, as defined by its constitution, is a voluntary, unincorporated, and nonprofit organization. The membership oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 516 senior high schools and 48 junior high/middle level schools in its membership. The WIAA sponsors 27 State Championship events for boys and girls.
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