March 17, 2004
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s tennis team, along with the William & Mary men’s team, earned the ITA National Team Sportsmanship Award for the month of March, as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Monday.
The ITA National Team Sportsmanship Award is a monthly award that is given to a men’s and women’s team that has exemplified outstanding sportsmanship, character and ethical conduct in the true spirit of competition and college tennis. The winners are selected by the ITA Ethics and Infractions Committee from nominations received from all ITA member institutions (Division I, II, III, NAIA, and Junior College.) Nominations are submitted by opposing coaches, and the Yellow Jackets were nominated by Minnesota coach Tyler Thompson.
“It has been my experience that Coach Shelton’s teams compete with great love of competition while placing a high premium on fine sportsmanship,” said Thomson. “Bryan and his staff are always understanding and rational about the ‘big picture,’ not getting too worked up about a relatively minor incident that may test one’s patience.”
Shelton is in his fifth year at the helm of the Tech program and states that sportsmanship has always been an important aspect of the program.
“It is possible to compete fiercely and at the same time be respectful to your opponents and the officials. We try hard to keep things in perspective, so that we never get too up or too down through competition. We are so fortunate to have the opportunities to pursue the great game of tennis when people are struggling with so many things throughout the world and in our own backyard.”
The Yellow Jackets return to action this weekend when they host the fourth-ranked Commodores of Vanderbilt Friday afternoon and Furman University Saturday morning.
