Four Roswell Area Athletes Honored at Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta Banquet

The Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta held its 10th Annual Banquet, Thursday, May 9, and four of the 19 student-athletes honored were from Roswell schools, including Centennial High School’s Amy Martin and Chase Rosenberg, as well as Blessed Trinity High School's Kourtney Keegan and Paul Stevens.

The Sports Champions of Atlanta, which held its banquet at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, honors high school seniors and coaches that have helped make a positive impact on the world.

The organization recognizes seniors that have excelled on the playing field, achieved a high level of excellence in their scholastics and shown great character. Coaches who compile an extraordinary record over at least six years to help produce championships while also reflecting outstanding leadership ability to help develop good character among his or her athletes are also recognized at the event, which was hosted by Atlanta Falcons/Georgia Tech announcer Wes Durham.

Chick-fil-A chief marketing officer Steve Robinson was the evening's keynote speaker.

Martin is one of the area’s top lacrosse players and will attend and play at Rollins University in Memphis the fall while Rosenberg, named second-team All-Region 6 quarterback by the league’s coaches, will play football at Hamilton College in New York, one of the “Little Ivies’’ in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Total, this year, 10 young men, nine young women and four coaches were recognized at the banquet.

In addition to Roswell area students, this year’s winners included Josh Brickell
(Peachtree Ridge), Harrison Butker (Westminster), Elijah Cantrell (North Clayton), Jonathan Conner (Tucker), Grant Hall (Buford), Douglas Legg (Mount. Paran), Ronald McCullough (Jackson-Atlanta), James Rowe (Lassiter), Kivon Taylor (Grady), Taylor Allen (Brookwood), Andrea Brown (Pope), Lindy Long (Landmark Christian), Nicole Stafford (Westminster), Emily Swift (Kell), Melissa Turvy (Peachtree Ridge), Amber Weber (North Atlanta), and coaches Terry Blish (Marist swimming), Derek Cook (Kell football), Ted Russell (Wesleyan volleyball).

Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta looks for athletes who are the “embodiment of body, mind and spirit,” as well as coaches who are role models “on and off the field.” The 2013 winners can certainly say they meet those standards.

How are Honorees Chosen?

The Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta received more than 1,000 nominees from athletic directors and principals from schools in the Greater Atlanta area including Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties, as well as the city of Atlanta and Buford city schools. From these nominations, a selection committee made up of 12-14 people from the advisory board and council then score the athletes independently before reconvening to tally up the scores. The council is comprised of 40 individuals who share the Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta’s vision.

Why Hold a Banquet?

As a result of the banquet and the Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta sponsors, the organization is able to provide financial support for under-funded athletic programs across the Greater Atlanta area. The funds go to the counties of the winners and the teams of the coaches to provide assistance to under-funded teams.

“The funds are given to the county athletic director to determine the best use for the money,” said Vickie Huddleston of Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta.

The Atlanta Public Schools athletic department is one recipient of the grant money and Athletics Program Director Jeff Beggs said that the Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta has been a tremendous benefactor for the sports department.

“The monies and grants we received have been used to purchase equipment and
uniforms for programs that cannot afford to get new ones,” said Beggs. “We are in dire need of additional funds every year for our athletic programs, but Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta has been a huge factor in being able to supply our schools and our programs with the necessary replacements each season. They have been just
tremendous.”

Other counties such as Gwinnett and Clayton have used the money for equipment such as basketballs and softballs. In a very special case, Cobb County bought an AED defibrillator for Lassiter to be used on site at track and field events. The Cobb County athletics department took a survey and found that several schools needed a second AED for their sports departments and Lassiter High School received an AED thanks to the Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta grant.

The defibrillator would actually help save the life of a jogger that was using the track one morning. Several coaches assisted the jogger and saved his life.

Huddleston noted that the county athletic directors are invited the the organization’s kickoff events to tell about how the money was used and to offer a look at how the entire process works.

Since 2004, each county has received a total of $37,000 to help with under-funded athletic programs. More than $17,000 has been given to schools where a coach has been honored to be used for that particular sport. Last year alone saw the Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta distribute a total of $12,000 to the five counties.

How Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta Got Its Start

In February 2001, George Wright, the founder of the Sports Champions, wanted to create an event to not just recognize outstanding high school athletes and coaches but also to help provide assistance to athletic programs in the under-funded schools of the Greater Atlanta area so that all sports would be allowed to thrive in the area. Over the next few years, Wright would engage in talks with Billy Henderson, Billy Payne and Jim Kennedy. After securing the “Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta” name, Wright and his advisory council and board of directors began to hold meetings to discuss criteria and nominations. The Sports Champions of Greater Atlanta had corporate support from Cox Communications and Georgia Power as well as Coca-Cola, the Piedmont Charitable Foundation and the John & Mary Franklin Foundation. In 2004, the
organization held its first banquet at Cobb Galleria where 10 athletes and three coaches were recognized. In total, 121 athletes and 33 coaches have been honored.

Athletes such as Maggie Horne (Marist, 2004), Michael Tucker (Buford, 2005), Christian Robinson (Greater Atlanta Christian, 2008), Christie Leverette (Marietta, 2008), Mikal Abdul-Saboor (Alpharetta, 2011), Mariah Stackhouse (North Clayton, 2012) and Brice Croxton (North Gwinnett, 2012) have won the award. Several, including Horne and Tucker, have gone on to serve on the advisory board. Previous coaches that have been recognized include Bill Thorn (2004), Ron Gartrell (2004), Ed Dudley (2005), Chuck Stines (2005), Gerry Romberg (2006), Kathy Richey Walton (2008), Eddie Martin (2009), Jess Simpson (2010), James “Friday” Richards (2010), Gene Durden (2011),
Sharman White (2012) and Bill Holleman (2012).