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Mission:
Participation in sports offers many lessons that can be
translated into everyday life. Therefore,
we encourage the participation in sports, but would like to see the
game put into the proper perspective.
Personal accomplishments and teamwork are important parts of
the game but the founders of this award would like to acknowledge the
player that shows respect, leadership, personal character and a sense
of community.
It is our belief
that it’s not just how you perform in the game that counts, but how
you perform at everything else. It is our hope that
this award and what it stands for will be received as a positive
influence and inspires younger players to emulate the annual honoree.
History:
Every person in life encounters moments that can only be described as
‘defining’ or ‘moving’. For
Joanne and Keith Rutkowski, one of those moments occurred during a
trip to
Minneapolis
,
Minnesota
in 2002 to attend college hockey’s ‘Frozen Four’.
In addition to attending three great hockey games during the
weekend they also decided to attend the Hobey Baker and Humanitarian
award ceremonies held on Friday of that week.
Attending the ceremonies that day became one of those moments
for them.
The Hobey Baker is an MVP award given to college hockey’s best
player. The Humanitarian
award is also given to a college hockey player.
The Humanitarian though, is not just about hockey.
It acknowledges the accomplishments of personal character,
scholastics and the giving of oneself off the ice to the larger
community, just to name a few.
Most players at the youth level will never experience the thrill of
winning a Hobey, a Humanitarian or any other such lofty award during
their playing career. That
doesn’t mean that youth hockey doesn’t produce fine citizens.
On the contrary, the foundation for building sportsmanship,
community involvement and role models is created during a player’s
younger years.
Considering some of the topics unrelated to games that grace the
sports pages these days, Joanne and Keith felt it was time to
recognize something more positive. From
that thinking, an idea was born to create an award such as the
Humanitarian for the Lake County Atoms.
The award is named
after an Atoms player that was taken from this life in June of 2003,
just two months shy of his sixteenth birthday.
Marshall Khayat, or ‘Marsh’ as he was called by his
coaches and teammates, had many of the qualities that this award is
to stand for. He was a
straight ‘A’ student, an excellent athlete and a leader.
He touched the lives of those around him and was someone the
other players could look up to and respect.
In seventh grade
Marshall
described himself as someone who felt like an important person and
someone who wanted to succeed in life.
There is no doubt he would have.
Each year the selection committee will solicit nominations from the
Midget playing level within the organization.
The candidate this award honors will represent not just the
best athlete but a young man or woman who possesses the qualities and
potential to become a future leader in business, education or our
community. The first
annual award was given at the end of the 2003/2004 season.
Joanne
Rutkowski
Keith Rutkowski
Co-founder
Co-founder
Annual
Award Winners:
2006-2007 Award Winner - Wesley Smith
We are pleased to announce that
Wesley Smith has been chosen as this year's winner of the MK Award.
He received a beautiful plaque and a $1,000 scholarship to be used as
he continues his education. Wes not only played hockey with
Marshall but attended grade school and played on some of the same
athletic teams with him, and feels extremely gratified in being named
this year's winner. Congratulations are in order to Wes and the
special nominees for this year's award including Chris Bretzlauf,
Kerry Klausner, Drew Sarver, and John Scherer.
2005-2006 Award Winner - Devin Zimmer
Congratulations to Devin Zimmer this
year's winner of the MK Award. Devin played a number of years
with Marshall and feels honored to be selected for this year's award
which included a commemorative plaque and a $1,000 scholarship which
he will use as he attends Miami University, OH this fall. This
year's nominees in addition to Devin included Chris Bretzlauf, Kevin
Olmschenk, and Wesley Smith.
2004-2005 Award Winner - Thomas Shaffer
Congratulations
to Thomas Shaffer who was selected as the winner of the MK
Award. Thomas was awarded with a beautiful plaque and a $1,000
scholarship at this year's award banquet.
This
year's nominees including, Doug Bair, Chris Bretzlauf, Brian
Jackson, Kevin Olmschenk, and Thomas Shaffer were each asked to
submit a brief introduction about themselves to the committee.
His is what Thomas submitted about himself - which after reading will
illustrate the quality young man he and all the nominees are.
"Thomas
Shaffer is a straight A student at Warren Township High School.
He often volunteers at St. Paul the Apostle by helping with the
Faithways program and with Cross Roads. He enjoys helping out
others, making people laugh, hanging out with friends, and of course
playing hockey. He had won the Matter of Pride Award at Warren
for showing an excellent First Class Attitude. He has also won
the Vicariate Leadership Award for his help and positive leadership
in his church community. He has spent time at Holy Family Soup
Kitchen and also at the Habitat for Humanity center."
2003-2004 Award Winner - Ryan Wood
For
those of you who missed the Atoms banquet, one of the highlights of
the evening was the presentation of the MK Award.
The winner of this award receives a beautiful plaque and a
$1,000 scholarship.
The
nominees for the award were Ryan Wood, Kyle Olmschenk, Nick Ray, and
Thomas Shaffer. The
winner of the MK Award was Ryan Wood.
Congratulations to all the nominees and to the winner, Ryan
Wood. A special thank you goes out to the committee members who
had the unenviable task of deciding which one of these worthy young
men would receive the award: Chris Lindley, Jeannette Lindenman, Chad
Wisneski and Keith and Joanne Rutkowski.
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