By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Brandywine High School received three MHSAA Good Sports Are Winners! awards for its outstanding show of sportsmanship throughout the district and regional tournaments this past year.
Sports winning the award were basketball, volleyball and wrestling.
"It's very rare that schools receive three awards in one year," Brandywine Athletic Director Vance Stratton said.
Other area high schools receiving the Good Sports Are Winners! awards were Benton Harbor, Bridgman and Eau Claire in basketball, Edwardsburg, Lakeshore, Eau Claire, Watervliet and Bridgman in volleyball and Eau Claire, River Valley and Three Rivers in wrestling.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association's Good Sports Are Winners! Award honors schools at all levels of selected tournaments for displaying the highest levels of sportsmanship throughout the competition.
Winning schools receive commemorative banners and crystal trophies from Farm Bureau and MEEMIC Insurance companies, the Association's corporate partner in sportsmanship efforts.
At the district and regional level of MHSAA tournaments, all schools which meet a set of sportsmanlike standards are recognized. There are standards in the program which automatically disqualify a school from consideration from the award.
Any team which is disqualified for the Good Sports Are Winners! Award at the district or regional level of a tournament becomes ineligible for the award at higher levels of that same tournament.
Teams are recognized through the publication of their names in the MHSAA Bulletin, the MHSAA Finals program series, and on the MHSAA Web site.