Coach and Athletic Director magazine honors Owls for activities on and off the field
Tack on another victory for The Overlake School.
At halftime of the girls home soccer match versus rival University Prep on Sept. 28, representatives from Coach and Athletic Director magazine will present the Redmond school an Interscholastic Sports Program of Excellence 2012 award.
Coach and Athletic Director editor Michael Austin said Overlake caught his and the judges’ attention for its students’ 82-percent athletic participation, overall 3.63 grade-point average (GPA) for varsity players, community service, parental involvement and coaches’ professionalism.
“They foster a positive athletic environment and the students get more out of school that way,” Austin said.
“It’s recognition for what our kids do as student-athletes,” said Overlake athletic director John Wiley. “We’re very excited about being acknowledged for more than wins and losses. It’s what you can do beyond the field.”
The magazine’s inaugural awards went to two schools in the midwest, one in southern California and Overlake, which takes home the prize in the category of private schools with an enrollment of less than 500.
A high degree of teamwork, integrity and ethics while displaying good sportsmanship are other qualities present at Overlake and factored into the judging.
Community service activities abound at Overlake, according to Wiley, who noted that the Owls’ “Volleyball Vs. Cancer” raised money for breast-cancer research, the baseball team’s “Going, Going Gone” raised money for prostate-cancer awareness and boys and girls basketball raised money at their “Coaches Vs. Cancer” events. The Owls’ baseball team also participated in service projects at orphanages in the Dominican Republic last April.
The girls will once again don pink uniforms for “Volleyball Vs. Cancer” at their Oct. 5 home game versus University Prep.
Over the years, Overlake’s boys and girls basketball, boys golf, girls lacrosse and boys cross-country teams have won top 1A GPA honors. Last year’s boys soccer team scored the 1A state championship.
