Release date: June 14, 2024, 7:00 AM
In sports, especially at the youth and high school levels, sportsmanship is just as important as winning.
A little bit of both is fine, but a lot of both will get you good marks.
Just ask Newtown High School athletic director Matt Memories, and he’ll tell you the level of sportsmanship that has seen his school’s teams make it far into the playoffs, winning several championships along the way and attracting the attention of teams from rival schools.
Newtown High School’s athletic programs won the inaugural Southwest Conference Achievement Cup, presented to the conference school that demonstrated sportsmanship and success in the conference tournaments this spring.
The award will recognize efforts in spring 2023, fall 2023 and this winter (2023-24) and will be presented to teams during each spring campaign, as it has been this year. The recognition takes into account success in conference tournaments – with points earned for a title game appearance and additional points for a championship win – and the level of sportsmanship as voted on by opposing teams. With an emphasis on the sportsmanship portion, 75% of the award will be based on a team’s sportsmanship and 25% will be based on how they win in the conference playoffs.
The athletic director at SWC School came up with this unique award as a way to ensure that players not only maintain their drive to win, but also compete with a high level of respect for opposing players on and off the field, including in social media posts.
“We all welcome our athletes to compete, but we want them to do it the right way,” Memories said, adding that mutual respect is also necessary off the field.
Newtown’s award is a testament to the hard work of the Nighthawks’ coaching staff and players, who further demonstrated sportsmanship and enjoyed success in the SWC playoffs, including wins for the girls golf and track and field teams in the spring, putting them off a good start to next year’s awards.
Sports editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.
Newtown High School’s sports community had a great spring. In addition to conference championships in girls track and field and golf, Newtown High won the inaugural Southwest Conference Achievement Cup and Susan Bridges received the SWC Outstanding Coach Award. Pictured, from left, are Bridges, NHS athletic director Matt Memories and Principal Kimberly Longobucco with their medals. —Photo by Matt Memories
