COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech women's soccer team
is once again in the national spotlight for academic success, as it
has been awarded the National Soccer Coaches Association of America
Team Academic Award for the 2011-12 academic year. It marks the
third consecutive year the Golden Eagles have received the
honor.
In order to be eligible for the team academic award, a program must post a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for the duration of one full academic calendar year. A total of 514 women's programs from Divisions I, II and III received the award.
The team has now won the award every season since head coach Daniel Brizard took over the helm of the soccer program. During the 2011-12 academic year, the soccer team combined for a composite 3.29 GPA.
"I think it's a testament to the academic standards we have here at Tennessee Tech, that we once again receive this award," Brizard remarked. "The academic standard we hold our girls to is high. Not only do we make the minimum GPA of 3.0 for the award, but we are typically in the 3.25-3.50 range. It's important that in sports that our athletes are doing the job in the classroom, as well. We are very proud of them, and it speaks volumes for our academic staff."
In charge of granting over 10,000 awards per year, the NSCAA "administers an outstanding awards and recognition program which includes Coach of the Year, All-America, long-term service and special recognition awards designed to recognize excellence in soccer, academics and service to the game."