Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year: Ashley Wittman
AVP Champion and Two-Time Gold Medalist Misty May-Treanor Surprises Standout with Elite Honor
In its 25th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, announced Ashley Wittman of Shakopee High School (Shakopee, Minn.) as its 2009-10 Gatorade® National Volleyball Player of the Year. Wittman was surprised with the news during her sixth period class at Shakopee High School by AVP champion and two-time gold medalist Misty May-Treanor.
“It felt great to surprise Ashley with the Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award and invite her into one of the most prestigious legacy programs in high school sports,” said AVP Champion Misty May-Treanor. “Gatorade has been on the sidelines fueling athletic performance for years, so to be recognized by a brand that understands the game and truly helps athletes perform is a huge honor for these kids.”
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Wittman as the nation’s best high school volleyball player. A national advisory panel comprised of sportswriters and sport-specific experts from around the country helped select Wittman from more than 404,000 high school volleyball players nationwide. Wittman is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade® Female High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special afternoon ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.
The 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter led the Sabers to a 32-0 record and their third consecutive Class 3A state championship this past season. The two-time Gatorade® Minnesota Volleyball Player of the Year, Wittman collected 569 kills, 294 digs, 50 blocks and 26 service aces this season while posting a kill percentage of .662. In the Class 3A state final, she had 34 kills and 19 digs in a three-set sweep over Wayzata High. Wittman is also a two-time Minneapolis Star Tribune Player of the Year and a three-time First Team All-State selection.
A two-time Amateur Athletic Union Girls’ Junior National Champion, Wittman led her Northern Lights club team to the USA Volleyball Junior Olympic Championships Open Division national semifinals in three straight years, including a finals appearance in 2009.
The 2008 PrepVolleyball.com National Junior of the Year, Wittman served as captain of the gold-medal-winning 2008 U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team at the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship and was a member of the USA Select Red Team that won the gold medal at the 2007 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in the International Junior Division.
Wittman has maintained a 3.87 GPA in the classroom. An active member of her church community and a member of the National Honor Society, Wittman has served on the Shakopee High Student Council in addition to coaching, officiating and instructing as a youth volleyball camp, clinic and summer league volunteer. She has also donated her time to the America Reads literacy-outreach program, the Special Olympics, and as a fundraiser for Feed My Starving Children international humanitarian efforts.
“Wittman is one of the best I’ve ever seen,” said Mike Dean, head coach of rival Prior Lake High. “Her defense and her competitive drive is what sets her apart from the rest. She does whatever she has to do to win.”
Wittman has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball on scholarship at the University of Minnesota next fall and will graduate Shakopee High early to begin attending spring semester collegiate classes.
“Without question, Ashley is deserving of recognition as the nation’s best high school volleyball player based on her statistics on the court and the impact her accomplishments have had on Shakopee High School’s success,” said Gatorade Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Jennifer Storms. “But she is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young players of what a leader and a student-athlete should be. She represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade® Player of the Year recipient.”
The Gatorade® Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
To celebrate the award’s 25th anniversary, Gatorade wants you to vote for the All-Time Greatest Volleyball Player of the Year at www.gatorade.com/POY25. To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade® Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more information on the Gatorade® Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of former winners, and future announcement dates, visit http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/.
ALL-TIME GATORADE NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
YEAR NAME HIGH SCHOOL STATUS
2009-10 Ashley Wittman Shakopee/ High School Senior Shakopee, MN
2008-09 Gina Mancuso Papillion-La Vista/ University of Nebraska Papillion, NE
2007-08 Kelly Murphy Joliet Catholic/ University of Florida Joliet, IL
2006-07 Alix Klineman Mira Costa/ Stanford University Manhattan Beach, CA
2005-06 Megan Hodge Riverside/ Penn State University Durham, NC
2004-05 Cynthia Barboza Wilson Classical/ U.S. National Team Long Beach, CA
2003-04 Cynthia Barboza Wilson Classical/ U.S. National Team Long Beach, CA
2002-03 Kristin Richards Timpanogos/ U.S. National Team Orem, UT
2001-02 Bre Ladd Canyon Del Oro/ Attended Univ. Tucson, AZ Of Arizona
2000-01 Ogonna Nnamani University/Normal, IL Galatasary (Istanbul)
1999-00 April Ross Newport Harbor/ AVP Pro Beach Newport Beach, CA Volleyball
1998-99 Logan Tom Highland/ Asystel Novara (Italy) Salt Lake City, UT
1997-98 Sara Sandrik Pelham/Pelham, AL Stanford Graduate
1996-97 Denise Boylan Benet Academy/ Notre Dame Graduate Lisle, IL
1995-96 Kerri Walsh Archbishop Mitty/ AVP Pro Beach San Jose, CA Volleyball
Source: The Gatorade Company
AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Inks Groundbreaking Contract With Top Athletes
Pro Beach Tour relationship with players secured through next Olympiad
AVP Pro Beach Volleyball has signed a new contract with its top-ranked athletes, it was announced today. The four-year agreement is effective immediately and has been signed by the top American players and many of their counterparts, including US Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser and others.
“We are thrilled to have a long-term deal with the AVP and are committed to forming a true partnership with the new management team to grow the sport – the momentum that we are seeing is exciting,” said Kerri Walsh, two-time Olympic gold medalist and member of the AVP Players’ Committee. “We want to grow together and bring our sport to an even higher level. We all love beach volleyball and look forward to operating as a united front with our tour.”
Signing a new agreement with the athletes was the top priority for the new management team, led by new CEO Jason Hodell.
“We are very excited to have completed a four-year agreement with our players,” said Jason Hodell, CEO, AVP Pro Beach Volleyball. “Only genuine teamwork between the players, their representatives and our management team made this agreement possible.”
The new agreement features progressive revenue-sharing, profit-sharing into bonus pools, a joint focus on important growth initiatives for the sport, and defined transparency and cooperation on sponsor marketing and activation initiatives, to include sponsor category-sharing and coordinated exclusivity.
“The player contract extension provides a foundation for the players to work closely with our tour to achieve great things in the future,” said Todd Rogers, who along with his partner Phil Dalhausser won a gold medal in Beijing. “The AVP tour represents the best of beach volleyball in the US and in the world – and we are excited for the future of the sport.”
“We look forward to further forming a strong, productive partnership between AVP management and athletes. Working together, we can really build and enhance the sport we all love,” said Al Lau, Vice President of Sport Development and Player Relations for the AVP.
“The players have a shared vision with AVP management and with RJSM pertaining to the consolidation and promotion of the sport of volleyball. There are significant growth opportunities present in the sport right now that we intend to capitalize on in partnership with the AVP pro tour,” said athlete representative Ryan Morgan of MAG. “We are looking forward to the next four years and beyond.”
Source: AVP.com
Henkel Sponsors Beach Volleyball Grand Slam in Paris
The Henkel Beach Volleyball Grand Slam Tournament 2008 will be held in Paris from June 16-22. This year is the fourth time the Beach Volleyball Grand Slam Tournament will be held in the French capital. And for the third time, Henkel is the main sponsor of the event, and will present its corporate brand name and seven product brands: Fa, Mir, Le Chat, Pattex, SuperGlue, Loctite and Schwarzkopf.
More than 200 matches will take place on the grounds of the “Champs de Mars,” against the fantastic backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. The arena has a capacity exceeding 6,500 spectators, who will be able to experience world-class beach volleyball free of charge. The best 130 teams from 40 countries will travel to Paris to pit their skills against each other. For the athletes, the tournament is important in terms of the qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in August. The winners will not only qualify for the Summer Olympics, but also earn 600,000 euros in prize money. Accordingly, the Beach Volleyball Grand Slam Tournament in Paris ranks among the most lucrative beach volleyball competitions worldwide.
As the main sponsor, Henkel also offers fans a diverse range of fringe events. These include instructions given by Le Chat on maintaining health at the same level as top athletes, the opportunity to relax in the wellness zone hosted by Fa, or a visit to the Henkel Cafe.
Beach volleyball attained the status of an Olympic sport in 1996. Since the 1980s, the game has emerged as a highly popular sporting event, which appeals to a large audience. In addition to the playing surface, the main difference compared to indoor volleyball is the number of players on the team. In beach volleyball, each team consists of two players, not six as is the case with its indoor counterpart.
Henkel has been sponsoring national and international sports events for many years. Besides the Beach Volleyball Grand Slam tournaments in Paris and Klagenfurt, Austria, Henkel has also been involved with the Ice Hockey World Championship in Canada and the World Handball Championship in Germany last year.
Source: Henkel
Web site: http://www.henkelna.com/
http://www.henkel.com/press