Mia Hamm, Five Collegiate Athletes to be
Recognized at 6th Annual Wooden Cup Awards

ATLANTA (December 15, 2009) – The 6th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given for the most outstanding role model among athletes, announced its nominees for the 2010 award ceremony according to Fred Northup, President, Athletes for a Better World.

The Wooden Cup is given to a collegiate and a professional athlete who have made the greatest positive influence in the lives of others. The award recipients will be announced at a ceremony held at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club on Wednesday, January 19.

With Peyton Manning, John Smoltz, John Lynch, Andrea Yaeger and Cal Ripken, Jr. as  previous recipients, the Wooden Cup is becoming one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports. Recipients are considered role models and athletes of excellence both on and off the field.

Founded by Athletes for a Better World (ABW), a non-profit organization committed to changing the culture of American sports, the Wooden Cup is unique in that it is open to athletes in all collegiate and professional sports. Nominations come from every conference in the NCAA.

Hall of Fame soccer legend Mia Hamm is an iconic symbol of women's sports and an inspiration and role model to a generation of sports-minded girls. In college she led North Carolina to four National Championships and was a two-time recipient of the Hermann Trophy honoring the nation’s top female soccer player.  As an Olympian, she led the United States to gold medals in 1996 and 2000 and to World Cup wins in 1991 and 1999.  She has scored more goals than any other player, male or female, in international play, and was named the women's World Player of the Year the first two years the award was given. She was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame after receiving 137 of the 141 votes cast. Determination, drive to succeed, and grace as a competitor have been the characteristics of her career.  Since her retirement, Mia has focused on the development of her Foundation, which is devoted to bone marrow transplant research and the development of sports for young women.  Her continued good works make her life an example of “winning more than the game,” the slogan of ABW.

The 2009 Collegiate Wooden Cup recipient will be announced at the award ceremony Jan. 19. Finalists for the collegiate division include:

The Wooden Cup is named in honor of John Wooden, one of the most successful coaches in collegiate history. Wooden’s legacy as a person of integrity, high moral character, compassion, and civic-mindedness continues to make him one of the most admired coaches in the history of sport.

Recipients of the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup are chosen by a committee chaired by Vincent Dooley, former University of Georgia athletic director, and other distinguished individuals involved in athletics across the country.

Finalists

Semi-Finalists

Honorable Mention