COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- UC Irvine is one of 41 colleges and universities to receive the inaugural U.S. Olympic Achievement Award.
The award recipients were announced during the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Convention in Orlando, Fla., in a special presentation June 17.
The award, which recognizes the colleges and universities whose student-athletes and coaches have won Olympic medals, was created jointly by the U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. National Governing Bodies for Sport (NGBs) and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Scott Blackmun, CEO of the USOC, presented the awards.
A total of 28 athletes and 38 coaches from 41 institutions contributed to the USA's medal success at the last two Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) and Vancouver (2010). Colleges and universities are recognized based on two criteria: having a current student-athlete who was part of a medal-winning performance or a coach who was a credentialed member of the U.S. Olympic Team delegation and his/her athlete or team won a medal.
UCI men's volleyball coach John Speraw was an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's Indoor Volleyball team that won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Tim Hutten was a member of the U.S. Men's Water Polo squad that earned the silver medal at the 2008 Games. Hutten was a senior at UCI in 2007-08.
The U.S. Olympic Achievement Award will be presented every two years following the Olympic Games. Two versions of the award will be given: an actual medal that will be presented to each institution's athletics director, and a presentation piece that may be showcased in the athletics department.
Background information
• NACDA. NACDA, now in its 46th year, is the professional and educational association for more than 6,500 college athletics administrators at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. NACDA administers 11 professional associations for the separate business units that report directly to the athletics director. Additionally, more than 2,200 athletics administrators annually attend the NACDA Convention presented by Fox Sports. For more information on NACDA, visit www.nacda.com.
• NGB Council. The mission of the National Governing Bodies Council is to assist the National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and Paralympic Sport Organizations (PSOs) as they strive to achieve sustained competitive excellence. The NGB Council represents the consensus views of the NGBs and the PSOs to the USOC Board of Directors, USOC staff and U.S. Olympic Assembly.
• U.S. Olympic Committee. The USOC is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sole entity in the United States whose mission involves training, entering and underwriting the full expenses for the U.S. teams in the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games. In addition to being the steward of the U.S. Olympic Movement, the USOC is the moving force for support of sports in the United States that are on the program of the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games.
