THE FLATS – Georgia Tech women’s tennis senior Victoria Flores was named one of four finalists for the 2021 ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award on Monday, as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Flores joins Jacinta Chen (Pomona-Pitzer College), Maya Jacobs (Rutgers) and Varun Shanker (California Institute of Technology) as finalists for the ITA’s highest student leadership award.
The ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award, endowed by Billie Jean King, was created to honor a recent college graduate who played college tennis and demonstrated excellence on and off the court, leadership on their team, as well as leadership on campus and in their community. The recipient of the award will have demonstrated grit (i.e. passion and perseverance towards long-term goals), a commitment to social justice and equality and will have pushed others to be leaders in addition to demonstrating his or her own leadership.
In her four years on The Flats, Flores has made an impact on the Georgia Tech women’s tennis program. A two-time team captain, ITA All-American and nationally ranked singles and doubles player, Flores has demonstrated her leadership throughout campus and the community. In summer 2020, she founded the Racism and Prejudice Awareness group within the Student-Athlete Advisory Group at Georgia Tech and has been instrumental in helping facilitate diversity and empathy training to Tech’s athletic programs. Additionally, Flores has helped create the Mental Health Committee within the athletic department and devotes her time to the EXCEL program at Georgia Tech where she mentors intellectually and developmentally challenged students. Through the EXCEL program, Flores has created lifelong friendships that have deeply impacted her life.
The award selection panel will review each finalists’ nomination materials – a personal statement, resume, letters of recommendation from their coach, teammate and Institution’s President – and select the winner. Once selected, the winner will receive a postgraduate scholarship and the ITA will make a $1,000 donation to the winner’s college tennis program.
In its fourth year, the prestigious award has been received by Daniel Park (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps), Andrew Akins (Duquesne) and Nithya Kanagasegar (Case Western Reserve). To view the full release recognizing the 2021 finalists, please click here.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Support The Swarm Fund, which helps Georgia Tech athletics offset the significant financial challenges associated with Covid-19, and the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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