The NCAA News - News and FeaturesMarch 31, 1997
Finalists selected for Giant Steps Awards
Finalists for the 10th annual Giant Steps Awards have been announced by Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, the National Consortium for Academics and Sports, and the NCAA.
The awards are given in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day and are presented to individuals who exemplify the ideals of balancing academics, athletics and life pursuits.
Finalists have been selected in the categories of civic leader, coach, and courageous male and female student-athlete.
The finalists, by category, and activities for which they are being recognized:
Civic leader
Mo Vaughn. The Boston Red Sox first baseman and American League most valuable player has given a tremendous amount of his time to community service, assisting school and health organizations and making regular visits as part of the Red Sox's "Adopt-A-School" program. The project closest to Vaughn's heart is the Mo Vaughn Youth Development Center in Dorchester, Massachusetts, which he founded with two childhood friends. It includes an after-school center where teens ages 13 to 16 can receive academic support, have a safe place to stay and develop self-esteem and the motivation to excel in all aspects of life. There are plans to open other centers in the Boston area.
Sheldon Kennedy. The Boston Bruins right wing is being recognized for his actions on behalf of abused children. He pressed charges against a former coach in Canada, who ultimately pled guilty to two counts of sexual assault against Kennedy and was sentenced to 31/2 years in prison. The coach also was ordered to have no dealings with minors for 10 years. The case resulted in demands for tighter screening of coaches. Kennedy made his role in the case publicly known, despite a court order not to do so, in hopes of encouraging others in similar situations to come forward and seek help. Since then, the Sheldon Kennedy Foundation has been established and land has been donated to build a retreat for abused children.
Reggie White. The Green Bay Packers defensive end is being cited as a man of true principle and commitment to community. While playing with the Philadelphia Eagles, he preached to teenagers on the streets of Philadelphia to stay in school and off drugs. He also organized the Community Development Bank in Knoxville, Tennessee, for individuals unable to qualify for loans. More recently, he has become a major force behind an effort to rebuild black churches (including White's own church in Knoxville) that have been burned throughout the country. The fund-raising effort, targeting National Football League players' annual dues, could raise as much as $8 million.
Dot Richardson. Richardson took a one-year leave of absence in her third year of orthopedic residency at the University of Southern California Medical Center to play shortstop for the 1996 U.S. Olympic softball team. Her participation came 20 years after she was told, at age 15, that she could not play youth baseball unless she cut her hair and called herself Bob. Richardson eventually was drafted by a women's professional softball league but chose to retain her amateur status in hopes that softball would become an Olympic event.
Steve Smith. The Atlanta Hawks basketball guard honored his late mother's memory by donating $2.5 million in her name to build a learning center at Michigan State University. The Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center will provide students with tutoring, career guidance and computer training. Smith's gift to his alma mater is the largest single gift a professional athlete has given to a university. He also funds a Michigan State academic scholarship, distributes 40 tickets for every Hawks game to youth groups and senior citizens, and donates $50 for every three-point shot he makes to the Georgia chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Coach
Jerry Sandusky. The Pennsylvania State University defensive coordinator and linebackers coach was a three-year letterman at the school before beginning his nearly 30-year coaching tenure with the Nittany Lions. He graduated first in his class at Penn State and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in health and physical education. Sandusky is the recipient of numerous service awards, including the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association's Heroes Award, presented in Pennsylvania for "contributions to the pursuit of sports excellence, sportsmanship, participation or opportunity," and the annual Human Rights Award presented by the Washington, Pennsylvania, chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He is author of Developing Linebackers, the Penn State Way, and proceeds from the book benefit The Second Mile, a charitable organization founded by Sandusky that addresses the welfare of young people.
Cheryl Murtagh. The Northeastern University field hockey coach regularly leads her teams to berths in the Division I Field Hockey Championship, including two semifinal appearances. Murtagh has both national and international experience as a field hockey player and coach, and was an assistant for the U.S. national team in 1989. At Northeastern, her players have compiled a 2.600 cumulative grade-point average and have posted a 71 percent graduation rate. The coach herself completed a master of business administration degree at Northeastern in 1991.
Jack Aker. The former professional baseball player and coach is a Choctaw Indian who pitched for 11 years with the A's, Yankees, Cubs, Mets and Braves. He officially left baseball in the late 1980s after 30 years in the professional game, and operates the Jack Aker Baseball School in Arizona. He also conducts a traveling camp that seeks to teach Indian youth the skills and disciplines of baseball. He conducts the camp in remote parts of the Navajo reservation, providing a rare opportunity to participate in organized sports.
Joe Bishop. The Coppin State College assistant men's and women's tennis coach overcame the recent death of his father by devoting the vast majority of his time to developing a top-notch tennis program at the school. He has helped create an environment that encourages Coppin State tennis players to strive for excellence both on and off the tennis court.
Courageous male student-athlete
Marisa Simpson. The University of Georgia football wide receiver has overcome two blows -- the death of his mother and a sister's diagnosis of lupus, a potentially fatal disease -- to compete while progressing toward a degree in social work. He is involved in Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers and the UGA Social Work Club, and has tutored "at-risk" youth for the past three years at the Rocksprings Community Center, a federally funded housing project.
Lawrence Wright. The University of Florida football defensive back received the 1996 Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back while helping lead his team to the national championship. He also has earned Southeastern Conference all-academic honors and selection to the 1996 College Football Association Scholar-Athlete Team. Inspired by the unrelated deaths of three close friends, Wright has moved beyond the playing field and classroom to start the "Right Trak" weekend camp program in his hometown of Miami, where he teaches study skills and schedules lectures by doctors, lawyers, athletes, artists and the physically handicapped. The building construction major also is seeking donations to build a facility for the program.
Kenyon Chavis. The Wake Forest University football player has received numerous academic scholarships and majors in biology at the school. He hopes to attend medical school. Chavis has been active in the Athletes Care Team as a tutor and speaker, and is active in his church and Big Brothers and as a volunteer in the battle against sickle cell.
Justin Harty. The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, wrestler overcame a 1992 shoulder injury to earn all-American honors three times and selection as 1996 Atlantic Coast Conference wrestler of the year. He also has collaborated with fellow athletes through the ACC Community Outreach Program to organize activities benefitting the Pediatric Play Unit at UNC Hospital and a basketball program for inner-city youth. Harty serves as executive director of Carolina Athletes Coming Together, a peer-mentoring and education program for freshman student-athletes.
Rosevelt Lavalle Noble. The Vanderbilt University football player and sociology and human and organizational development major started a mentoring program in which student-athletes work with teenagers at a YMCA. He also has been involved with Read Me Day, served as a DARE graduation program speaker and participated in the Nashville, Tennessee, Boys and Girls Club. He also has been involved in the Project Glow mentoring program.
Travis Roy. In 1995, Roy suffered a cracked vertebra early during his first game as a hockey player at Boston University, leaving him paralyzed. After months of rehabilitation, Roy has regained some movement in his right arm. He re-enrolled at Boston U. last fall and has become involved in various projects, including a local Cerebral Palsy Telethon. He also testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Aging, seeking funding for research into spinal cord injuries. The Travis Roy Foundation is committed to aiding the more than 10,000 people who suffer such injuries annually.
Courageous female student-athlete
Jodi Norton. Norton has succeeded as a diver at Columbia University-Barnard College despite bouts with lupus erythematosus, meningitis, pericarditis, Lyme's disease and Raynaud's disease. She speaks extensively to students about lupus and regularly visits hospitals to meet with children who have undergone chemotherapy. She also has taught diving to young people and is active in Athletes in Action. The psychology major and recipient of the 1996 Eastern College Athletic Conference Award of Valor hopes to attend medical school.
Maria "Mara" Toole. The Florida State University swimmer and child development major has Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare cancer that was diagnosed three months into her freshman year. Due to early detection and a high treatment success rate, Toole hopes to return to competition and participates in light workouts between chemotherapy sessions. She awaits exploratory surgery in May, when doctors will determine if the cancer cells have disappeared.
Beth Chartier. The Colby-Sawyer College basketball player and exercise and sports sciences major overcame surgery for the removal of her large intestine last spring to earn selection as Commonwealth Coast Conference women's basketball player of the year. Chartier, who had suffered from ulcerative colitis since first grade, played in a summer league only a month after the surgery. She also overcame an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in high school and played basketball with a fractured vertebra sustained during a summer basketball camp in 1995.
Mandy King. The University of Southern Maine basketball player tore the ACL in her left knee at the end of her senior year in high school and lost college scholarship offers. She enrolled at Southern Maine and worked to rehabilitate her knee, then attempted a comeback. She earned a starting position on the basketball team and was named all-conference in her sophomore year. After reinjuring the knee in her junior year, she recovered to lead her team to an NCAA tournament berth in her senior season. King also played soccer for one year at Southern Maine.
Tracy Connor. The Wake Forest University basketball player and health and exercise science major has overcome such injuries as a stress fracture in her foot, an ostechondral condition in both knees and a sublexing shoulder to earn first-team Atlantic Coast Conference honors and finish second in voting for conference player of the year. She has volunteered for five years with the Athletes Care Team, tutored in elementary schools, spoken to civic groups and schools, helped with Special Olympics and participated in the Santa's Helpers program. She also has served as a mentor to a young girl, resulting in radical improvement of the youngster's basketball skills, grades and self-esteem.
Stacey DeVeaux. The University of Central Florida basketball player helped win the school's first Trans America Athletic Conference women's basketball championship. She has earned dean's and president's list recognition and selection to the athletics director's honor roll, and is a conference all-academic honoree. Her community service includes volunteer work for the Jingle Bell Run, the Anthony Bowie Basketball Camp, and Central Florida's Coalition for the Homeless. She also speaks at schools in the community.
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