FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The USA South Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has announced that N.C. Wesleyan College has been chosen as the winner of the inaugural USA South Sportsmanship Trophy.  N.C. Wesleyan won the Sportsmanship Trophy after they picked up the Sportsmanship Award in four sports during the 2004-2005 academic year as the Bishops were chosen as Sportsmanship Award winners in; football, softball, golf and women's tennis.

There is a Sportsmanship Award for 12 of the 14 Conference-sponsored sports.  For every sport, each team member votes for the teams he/she deems to have demonstrated the best overall sportsmanship throughout the season.  The team garnering the most votes will receive that sports' Sportsmanship Award.  The school that wins the most individual sport Awards wins the overall USA South Sportsmanship Trophy.  The Award came about through SAAC's commitment to maintaining a sportsmanlike environment on each of our campuses. 

Averett University and Peace College were the only other two schools that won multiple Sportsmanship Awards during the past academic year as Averett won three Sportsmanship Awards and Peace earned two Sportsmanship awards.

The Award will be presented to N.C. Wesleyan at a later date.  The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee hopes that by establishing a Sportsmanship Award, the members of the USA South will understand the importance of this issue.  The student-athletes, coaches and administrators represent the best of our institutions and it is vital that this be demonstrated on and off the field. 

2004-2005 Individual Sport Sportsmanship Award Winners
Football - N.C. Wesleyan
Volleyball - Methodist
Women's Soccer - Peace
Men's Soccer - Christopher Newport
Women's Basketball - Peace
Men's Basketball - Averett
Baseball - Averett
Softball - N.C. Wesleyan
Golf - N.C. Wesleyan
Lacrosse - Averett
Men's Tennis - Ferrum
Women's Tennis - N.C. Wesleyan