The American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership honored the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association with an Award of Excellence as part of the 2009 Associations Advance America awards program.

The 2008 WBCA Pink Zone initiative featured more than 1,200 participants and 830,000 fans nation-wide, raising nearly $1 million for breast cancer awareness and research. The 2008 participation was up 900 percent from 2007, the first year for the project. This year’s figures are not calculated.

The award puts the WBCA in the field for the Summit Award, a top honor from the same group.

“It is such an honor to be recognized with the 2009 Associations Advance America Award of Excellence, but we could not have done this without the outpouring of support from women’s basketball coaches, teams, fans and communities across the nation,” said WBCA Executive Director Beth Bass.  “This award is a testament to the competitive nature of our membership, who not only fight to win on the court, but also to win the battle against cancer.”