RSC Communcations
Kevin Taylor
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio – Midway University women’s soccer head coach Sherrill Smith has been selected the 2020-21 River States Conference Coach of Character Award winner. Smith, a Frankfort, Ky., native who is in his sixth year coaching the Eagles, was selected after a vote of the RSC Champions of Character Committee.
The RSC Coach of Character award is patterned after the NAIA award of the same name. It is given annually to a head coach who has been outstanding in embracing the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program using methods of teaching character through sport and in community leadership through volunteering or service.
The five character values of Champions of Character are Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship. The award was first established in the conference in 2015-16. As the conference honoree, Smith will have his named forwarded to the national level as a nominee for the NAIA Coach of Character Award.
Smith has for many years used the Champions of Character traits in his coaching, and he has also turned that into community service for his team. For those reasons, Smith was a strong choice for the committee.
“As a well-rounded coach, Sherrill Smith works to stay involved on a campus-wide scale. He is truly dedicated to the student-athlete experience,” said Rusty Kennedy, Director of Athletics at Midway. “He genuinely is a Coach of Character showing the five core values. He can grasp the meaning of the core values and apply wisdom in a way that works in any solution.”
Smith’s character teachings begin with his program to train and select team captains. Using the book, “The Team Captain’s Leadership Manual” By Jeff Jansen, Smith’s teams explore leadership, commitment, confidence, composure, character, servant leadership and who is a confidence builder, refocuser, team builder and enforcer.
The activities that are used for this training are community service projects at senior centers, community gardens, churches, local schools, a Trunk or Treat program at Halloween and many more.
“The true meaning of captaincy is influencing an entire team on the field first and then to go on to be community leaders,” Smith said. “I believe our true job as a coach is to develop athletes into responsible leaders. I want my players to remember me wanting them to be better people and wanting them to serve at the highest level the communities in which they will one day live.”
YEAR BY YEAR — RIVER STATES CONFERENCE COACH OF CHARACTER AWARD WINNERS
2015-16 — Samantha DeMartine (Asbury University), Softball Head Coach
2016-17 — Tiffani Selhorst (IU East), Women’s Basketball Head Coach
2017-18 — Chris Hammond (Rio Grande), Softball Head Coach
2018-19 — John Mills (Alice Lloyd), Women’s Basketball Head Coach
2019-20 — Will Shouse (Asbury), Men’s Basktball Head Coach
2020-21 — Sherrill Smith (Midway), Women’s Soccer Head Coach