For the first time, IU Southeast was awarded the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Champions of Character Five Star Award for 2010-2011 on Oct. 5.

“We want to be a five star institution,” Joe Glover, athletic director, said.

There is a formula the NAIA figures up, and institutions that scoring more than 60 points are added to the list of Champions of Character Five Star Award winners.

The formula grants points to institutions for the way they perform in the areas of character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion.

Glover said one of the major reasons they won the award was due to no players being ejected during any athletic event during the year. When a school has no ejections, they earn 20 points toward being named a Champion of Character, but if a school has more than one ejection it will subtract 20 points from being a winner.

This was something Glover said he set out to do at the beginning of the year.

“The coaching staff took it seriously,” Glover said.” [They] made this a reality for us.”

IU Southeast scored 82 points — the highest in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference — in which 60 percent of member schools made the cut for the award.

There were 220 out of 270 NAIA schools named to the list. IU Southeast scored in the top 40 of the schools listed as award winners.

Denny Williams, assistant athletic director, was named IU Southeast’s Champions of Character Liaison, meaning it is his job to let the coaches know what they can do in the community to help gain points for the award.

All coaches in the NAIA are required to take an online class on the NAIA website and pass the test at the end of the class in order to be a coach.

“All coaches, from head coach all the way down to the assistant coaches, have to complete [the test,]” Williams said.

Williams said he also has a responsibility to let the coaches know what they can do to get involved in the community and earn points for the award.

He said most of the coaches are partnered with organizations or charities to earn points.

“I think [the award] will reaffirm that notion that we are here to develop student athletes,” Glover said.

Glover said the Athletic Department’s community outreach also helped earn points for the award.

“The more we can do to help the community, the better,” Glover said.

Glover said he also plans to have a free sports camp for all Floyd and Clark County children to participate with IUS coaches and athletes in the coming year.

By JOSH WILSON

Staff

wilsjosh@ius.edu