ATLANTA, GA (March 19, 2019) – The 15th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given to the most outstanding role models among athletes, has announced the professional, collegiate, and high school honorees for its 2019 award ceremony, to be held April 25 at SunTrust Park’s Infiniti Club in Atlanta.  Georgia Tech alumnus and pro golfer Stewart Cink will be the professional recipient.  Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

Founded by Athletes for a Better World (ABW), a non-profit organization which celebrates the unselfish generosity of many participants in American sports, the Wooden Cup is unique in that it is open to all athletes in all high schools, college and professional sports. Annual nominations are open to every division and conference in college sports, and to athletes in public and private high schools across the country in partnership with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.  The Wooden Cup is becoming one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports. Previous professional recipients include Jack Nicklaus, Pat Summitt, Drew Brees, and Mia Hamm.

Stewart Cink was an All-American on the Georgia Tech golf team from 1993-1995, was named ACC Player of the Year in 1995 and was on its academic honor roll from 1992-1993.  He was the recipient of the Fred Haskins Award in 1995, given to the most outstanding collegiate golfer in NCAA Division I, and the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year award.  He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Cink has been a full-time player on the PGA TOUR since 1997, playing more than 500 PGA TOUR events with six PGA TOUR victories during that 22-year-span, including the 2009 British Open at Turnberry.  Cink’s first PGA TOUR victory came in 1997 at the Travelers Championship, with additional victories at the 2000 RBC Heritage, 2004 RBC Heritage, 2004 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, and 2008 Travelers Championship.  Cink’s British Open Championship win at Turnberry came in a playoff over five-time Open winner Tom Watson.  He’s also represented the United States on five Ryder Cup teams and four Presidents Cup teams.

Since turning pro, Cink has established himself as one of the most popular and philanthropic players on the PGA TOUR.  In 2017, he was awarded the Payne Stewart Award in recognition of his philanthropic endeavors, his commitment to growing the game, his professionalism, and the distinguished manner in which he embraces the values of golf. As a member at East Lake Golf Club, Cink is one of the leaders in the community when it comes to supporting the East Lake Foundation.  The foundation provides resources for families of The Villages of East Lake and students of Drew Charter School to build a better life through college education, mixed-income housing, and community wellness. In addition to being a top supporter of the East Lake Foundation, Cink and his wife, Lisa, have created the Cink It Challenge to benefit local charities that are close to the couple’s hearts. All proceeds from the Cink It Challenge support the Pregnancy Resource Center of Gwinnett and Gwinnett Medical Center Newborn Intensive Care Unit in northeast Atlanta.

The 2019 collegiate Wooden Cup recipient will be announced at the awards ceremony.  Finalists for the collegiate division include:

• Abigail Abel, basketball, Purdue University
• Nathan Clayberg, football, Drake University
• Elisabeth Estep, volleyball, Alfred University
• Malani Lee, soccer, University of South Florida

The nationally recognized high school recipients are:

• Sarah Marie Rauch – Grayslake North High School, Grayslake, Illinois
• Evan James Gwozdz – Middleboro High School, Middleboro, Massachusetts

Master of Ceremonies Bob Ryan, the famed sports writer of the Boston Globe, has been named “Sportswriter of the Year” four times.  He is a member of the College Basketball Writers and the New England Basketball Halls of Fame, has received both the Curt Gowdy and Dick Schaap Awards, and perhaps most notably, was the recipient of the Red Smith Award in 2015 for contributions to sports journalism.

John Wooden, who won ten national championships during the years 1964-1975 as basketball coach at UCLA, is commonly regarded as the greatest college coach of any sport who ever lived. Universally regarded as one of the finest human beings to ever grace the world of sports, his character, conduct and selfless gifts stand at the highest level by any standard. When Coach Wooden learned about Athletes for a Better World, he gave authorization to attach his name to this annual award, and he attended and addressed the inaugural event in Los Angeles in 2005. In his honor, the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is presented to four distinguished athletes:  one professional, one collegiate, and a male and female from the American high schools, for their character and leadership both on and off the field.

Ticketing, sponsorships, and other information may be found at www.abw.org.

Media Contact:    Brad Catherman, bcatherman@abw.org or 678-523-5839

ATLANTA, GA (February 15, 2019) – The 15th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given to the most outstanding role models among athletes, has announced collegiate honorees for its 2019 award ceremony to be held in Atlanta at a date this spring to be announced. Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

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 high school, collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports. Annual nominations are open to every division and conference in college sports, and to athletes in public and private high schools across the country in partnership with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
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ATLANTA (January 1, 2019) – Athletes for a Better World (ABW) and The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) have formed a partnership to annually recognize one male and one female national NIAAA scholarship winner as automatic recipients of the prestigious Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup. These two high school athletes will join one collegiate and one professional recipient each year as exemplary role models of the ABW Code for Living. The recipients of the high school class of 2018 are Sarah Rauch and Evan Gwozdz who will receive the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup in the spring of 2019. ABW Executive Director Brad Catherman and NIAAA officials celebrated this achievement with the two recipients at the Opening General Session of the National Athletic Directors Conference conducted on December 15, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas.
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ATLANTA (April 26, 2018) – Johann Koss, a four time Olympic Gold medalist and Founder of Right to Play, and Ashley Marcus of the University of Pennsylvania each received the 14th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup at Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria Centre Wednesday night.  In the high school division, in partnership with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Cups were awarded to Hope Baldwin, Hackett Catholic Prep in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Ethan Shuster of Shelton High School in Shelton, Connecticut. The Cup, in the words of Athletes for a Better World’s founder, Fred Northup, is “not for the best athlete, or the best student, but for the best person in the world of sports.” Previous recipients, including Jack Nicklaus, Mia Hamm, Cal Ripken, Peyton Manning, Pat Summitt and others, have made the Cup one of the most prestigious awards in sports, given its emphasis on character and its openness to athletes in all sports.
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The professional recipient, Johann Koss, is a four time Gold Medalist, the Founder of Right to Play, and an international humanitarian.

Koss made his Olympic debut at the 1992 Winter Olympics, finishing seventh in the 5,000m, five days after undergoing surgery because of an inflamed pancreas. He would recover to win gold in the 1,500m (by only 0.04 seconds over his countryman Ådne Søndrål) and silver in the 10,000m (behind Dutch skater Bart Veldkamp).

In 1994, the final year of his speed skating career, Koss also gained fame outside the speed skating world by winning three gold medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics in his native Norway, winning all races in new world records, two of which would remain unbeaten until the clap skate era. For his performance, he was named Sports Illustrated magazine’s Sportsman of the Year in 1994, together with Bonnie Blair. In addition, he received the Oscar Mathisen Award for speed skating three times: in 1990, 1991, and 1994.
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Athletes for a Better World (ABW) and The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) have formed a partnership to annually recognize one male and one female national NIAAA scholarship winner as automatic recipients of the prestigious Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup.  These two high school athletes will join one collegiate winner and a professional recipient each year as exemplary role models of the ABW Code for Living.  The recipients of the high school class of 2017 are Hope Baldwin and Ethan Shuster who will receive the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup on April 25, 2018 at the Atlanta banquet.  ABW Executive Director Brad Catherman and NIAAA Executive Director Mike Blackburn celebrated this achievement with the two recipients at the Opening General Session of the National Athletic Directors Conference conducted December 8, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona
Read More »

The 14th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given to the most outstanding role models among athletes, has announced the professional, collegiate, and high school honorees for its 2018 award ceremony, to be held April 25 at Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria. Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

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 high school, collegiate and Olympic or professional sports. Nominations are open to every division and conference in college sports and to athletes in public and private high schools across the country in a partnership with the National Association of High School Athletic Administrators.
Read More »

ATLANTA (April 12, 2017) – Hall of Fame sportscaster Dick Vitale and Joe Spencer of the University of Illinois each received the 13th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup at Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria Centre on Wednesday night. Special recognition was also given to Chris Singleton of Charleston Southern, plus Erin Houchins and Ian Saum each received the first high school division awards. The Cup, in the words of Athletes for a Better World’s founder, Fred Northup, is “not for the best athlete, or the best student, but for the best person in the world of sports.” Previous recipients, including Jack Nicklaus, Mia Hamm, Cal Ripken, Peyton Manning, Pat Summitt and others, have made the Cup one of the most prestigious awards in sports, given its emphasis on character and its openness to athletes in all sports.
Read More »

Dick Vitale is well known as college basketball’s top analyst and ambassador. Vitale joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season following a successful college and pro coaching career. Vitale called ESPN’s first-ever NCAA basketball game and over 1,000 games since.His thorough knowledge of the game is brought forth in an enthusiastic, passionate, and never boring style. Vitale’s numerous honors reflect the respect he has earned for his contributions to sport and to the larger community and are highlighted by his inclusion in nine Halls of Fame, including the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Most importantly, Vitale is a tireless philanthropist. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of The V Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer, and founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano who died of the disease that year. Since its beginning, the V Foundation has awarded over $170 million in grants for research.Vitale’s primary interest is in children’s cancer and he has been tireless in his efforts. He co-chairs the annual V Foundation Golf Classic and is preparing to host the 12^th Annual Dick Vitale – V Foundation Gala in Sarasota, which raised nearly $3 million last year alone.

Born in East Rutherford, N.J., Vitale graduated from Seton Hall University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and earned a master’s degree in education from William Paterson College. He and his wife, Lorraine, have two daughters.