By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information and OVC Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the seventh time in program history and the third time in the past four years of its distribution, the Tennessee Tech women's golf team collected the Ohio Valley Conference's Team Sportsmanship Award for women's golf, as announced by the league Monday morning.
The award was not presented during the 2019-20 campaign due to the season's cancellation with the COVID-19 pandemic in its early stage. The Golden Eagles took home the honor in both 2017-18 and 2018-19, as well as in 2014-15, 2009-10, 2007-08, and 2006-07. No other past or current OVC women's golf program has been honored with the sportsmanship award more often than Tennessee Tech.
"This team not only shows great resiliency on the golf course, but they also show what it's like to be a great competitor," Tech head coach Amanda Smith expressed. "Golf has a way of showing one's true character. This team has really made it a point to respect the game and all those we play with. I am very proud of them for making this important, not only for the program but all of the OVC."
Voted on by the student-athletes and coaches of the respective sports, the team awards are bestowed upon the Conference squads deemed to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA. Included in the areas for evaluation are the conduct of student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators, and fans.
"Without sportsmanship, there are truly no meaningful victories," said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. "The recipients of the OVC Team Sportsmanship awards should accept this award with great pride for their fellow competitors have made it clear their teams exemplify the best in intercollegiate athletics. In receiving this prestigious honor other competitors are saying these student-athletes compete with class, respect their opponents and value fair play. That is quite a compliment as those are all traits that will lead to true victories throughout the course of life."
Implemented in August 2005, the team honors are the most recent addition to an awards program that recognizes and celebrates sportsmanship within the Conference. In 1998, the league established the Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to a male or female student-athlete of junior or senior status who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late Morehead State student-athlete, coach, and administrator. Five years later, the Conference added the OVC Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to the member institution selected by its peers to have best exhibited the standards of sportsmanship and ethical behavior as outlined by the OVC and NCAA.
"I am very proud of our women's golf program for representing Tennessee Tech University with constant class and professionalism," Tech Director of Athletics Mark Wilson said. "[Head] Coach [Amanda] Smith has done a great job in her first year overseeing our women's golf team and it goes without saying that to continue the tradition and reputation that our women's golf team has built with its sportsmanship over the years is a fantastic start. Congratulations are in order for her, [assistant coach] Polk Brown, and each of our student-athletes for this great achievement. I know this is just the beginning."
In 1995, the Ohio Valley Conference implemented a first-of-its-kind "Sportsmanship Statement," a policy promoting principles of fair play, ethical conduct, and respect for one's opponent. The statement answered the challenge of the NCAA Presidents Commission to improve sportsmanship in collegiate athletics and has become a model for others to follow across the nation.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
