The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) presented the 2015 Fall Sportsmanship Awards to four neighborhood park sports coaches and their teams, and two individual youth at the Board of Commissioners meeting on February 17.
Teams were recognized for its players’ outstanding display of positive attitudes, commitment, dedication, persistence, and overcoming adversity. Coaches were recognized for being positive role models, loyal to the program, emphasizing team work, demonstrating strong work ethic and passion, and engaging players and parents to have fun.
The 2015 Fall Youth Sportsmanship Awards were presented to the athletes and coaches of the following teams: 12U Harrison Hornets (football), 18U Nokomis Lakers (volleyball), 13U Pershing/Linden Hills Mack (girls soccer), and 13U Sibley Maroon Eagles (open soccer). Each team received a traveling trophy, a plaque for the park, a plaque for the coach, and a Broadway Pizza certificate.
The Sandy Peterson Most Improved Player Award was presented to female athletes from each team division. The award is made possible through a memorial fund in memory of Sandy Peterson, an MPRB employee of 30 years, retired in 1999. Peterson became the first female director of the MPRB’s Youth Sports Department, and it was her dedication to MPRB girls’ athletics that helped paved the way for today’s young female athletes, which earned her a number of awards and recognitions for her outstanding work along the way. Players were nominated by their coaches, and nominations were selected by a committee consisting of Peterson’s MPRB colleagues.
The following athletes were awarded The Sandy Peterson Most Improved Player Award: Ava Backett of 11U Nokomis Lakers and Cora Rubey of 13U Nokomis Wave. Each athlete received a trophy, copy of their nomination, bookmark with Sandy Peterson’s story, and a jacket.
The awarded teams were chosen among 209 MPRB football, soccer and volleyball youth sports teams for demonstrating exemplary sportsmanship throughout the fall season. The awarded individual athletes were chosen among 3,255 youth athletes that participated in one of the three fall sports in 2015. A total of 427 coaches dedicated over 30,000 hours to their teams.
Football – 12U Harrison Hornets
Coach Craig Johnson
Front, left to right: Director Marshall Wylie, Coach Pat Mengelkoch, Kowledge Cunningham, Kemarion Dorsey, Cristopher Patterson, Robert Knight, Coach Craig Johnson
Back row: Commissioners Jon Olson, Scott Vreeland, Steffanie Musich, Superintendent Jayne Miller, President Liz Wielinski, Commissioners John Erwin, Anita Tabb, Brad Bourn, Meg Forney
Volleyball – 18U Nokomis Lakers
Coach Kristin Boyum
Front, left to right: Jessica Holliday, Lauren Kelly, Kathleen Grube
Middle, left to right: Coach Kristin Boyum, Emily Holliday, Jessica Volstrom, Daniel Barobosa
Back row: Commissioners Jon Olson, Scott Vreeland, Steffanie Musich, Superintendent Jayne Miller, President Liz Wielinski, Commissioners John Erwin, Anita Tabb, Brad Bourn, Meg Forney
Girls Soccer – 15U Pershing/Linden Hills Mack
Coach Tony Mack
Front, left to right: Sierra Krueger-Wolfe, Alison Bode, Arianna Hawkins, Olivia Dalby, Molly Walker
Back row: Commissioners Jon Olson, Scott Vreeland, Steffanie Musich, Superintendent Jayne Miller, President Liz Wielinski, Commissioners John Erwin, Anita Tabb, Brad Bourn, Meg Forney
Open Soccer – 13U Sibley Maroon Eagles
Coach Kieran Knutson
Front, left to right: Coach Jamie Burgess, Ari Garnett, Michael Hall, Kaelan Ryshkus-Knutson, Adam Thao, Jamison Burgess, Matthew Tucker, Cassius Garnett, Shane Morgan, Emilio Gomez, Amelia Ryan, Coach Kieran Knutson
Not pictured: Gabriel Cayetano, Elliot Laibson-Brown
Back row: Commissioners Jon Olson, Scott Vreeland, Steffanie Musich, Superintendent Jayne Miller, President Liz Wielinski, Commissioners John Erwin, Anita Tabb, Brad Bourn, Meg Forney
Cora Rubey – 13U Nokomis Wave
Ava Beckett – 11U Nokomis Lakers
Front, left to right: Jesse Morgan, Karyle Hanson, Cora Rubey, Ava Beckett, Patti Grube
Back row: Commissioners Jon Olson, Scott Vreeland, Steffanie Musich, Superintendent Jayne Miller, President Liz Wielinski, Commissioners John Erwin, Anita Tabb, Brad Bourn, Meg Forney
The following are excerpts from coaches on nomination forms.
Cora Rubey
13U Nokomis Wave
“Cora was initially hesitant to play volleyball this year. She had never played before and didn’t know if there would be anybody on the team she knew. She took a risk and joined the team. At first, Cora needed a lot of help on serving, court position, passing, and volleyball basics. With lots of hard work Cora started to show signs of significant improvement. She attended every game, every practice, all the optional volleyball clinics, and often came early or stayed late to work on serving. By the end of the year Cora was one of our best players. She was able to serve and pass consistently and she set a good example for other players. In addition, Cora displayed exemplary sportsmanship and integrity. She was a humble and encouraging teammate and showed gratitude toward her coaches. She also had a lot of fun and made many new friends.”
– Coach Jesse Morgan
Ava Beckett
11U Nokomis Lakers
“Based on game stats, Ava Beckett was without a doubt our team’s most improved player. She demonstrated steady and consistent improvement in both serving and returns as the season progressed. Ava is one of our younger and smaller players and was new to volleyball in 2015. But don’t let that fool you, as she will definitely be a force to contend with next year! In our first two games, Ava wasn’t able to get any of her serves over the net. However, her completion rate climbed to 25%, 33%, and 50% mid-season. Her service completion improved with every single game. The season culminated with her last game at 100% completion! She demonstrated steady, consistent serving improvement throughout the season. Her ball return stats showed a similar story. At the beginning of the season, she would get a touch on the ball only because she couldn’t get out of the way. By the end of the season, Ava was getting in “ready stance” and was moving to the ball, rather than waiting for the ball to come to her. She returned a few, had more “good” ball touches, and had several beautiful passes to her teammates. Ava came to every practice ready to learn, play, and have fun. Her coachability, leadership, and dedication to improving her game became apparent early on and manifested itself in her games. She wrote down her goals, knew what she needed to work on to achieve them, then went out and accomplished them. I would love to have a team full of Ava’s!”
– Coach Patti Grube
Youth Sportsmanship awards are presented by the MPRB athletics staff for fall/winter sports and spring/summer sports.
With 251 park properties totaling nearly 6,790 acres of parkland and water, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board provides places and recreation opportunities for all people to gather, celebrate, contemplate, and engage in activities that promote health, well-being, community, and the environment.
For more information about MPRB youth sports, visit the MPRB youth sports page or contact your local recreation center.