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Name Katherine Kirby Neubert Birthday 09.13.87 Email katherineneubert@hotmail.com -- writer, jolter, aspiring photojournalist.
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alexis design the daily collegian the daily jolt the new york times wordswift |
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It is no surprise that the University of Massachusetts should be delighted that four faculty members are on the list of the Top 100 Most Influential Sport Educators.The four professors include the head of the Sport Management Program, Pat Griffin, emeritus professor Harold VanderZwaag, Sport Management professor Glenn Wong and lecturer Laurie Priest. "I am pleased and honored to be selected as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential Sport Educators," said Wong. "It is a wonderful recognition from an organization, The Institute for International Sport, which is well respected. I appreciate the acknowledgement very much." Executive director of the Institute for International Sport, Dan Doyle, had the institute get on board with the selection of two categories of distinguished sports educators, The 100 Most Influential Sports Educators in America, and The Fifteen Most Influential Sports Education "Teams" in America. This would become a three year project, potentially being administered for his forthcoming book, The Encyclopedia of Sport Parenting. "I believe that sport is one of the most effective venues to teach successful life skills to young people," said Laurie Priest, adjunct lecturer in the Sport Management Program at UMass and current chair of Physical Education and athletics director at Mount Holyoke College. "I provide young athletes the opportunity to develop leadership skills in a setting that tests them in many ways that the classroom experience cannot," For most of these professors, sports education has been their life's work - and a passion that helped and influenced many of their students. "One of the most important things [Pat] did was to give me, at age 20, an approachable, strong, adult mentor to go to when I needed help," said Reeny Groden, class of '77, about her then swim coach, Pat Griffin. "During my sophomore year, I was having a hard time deciding about majors. She referred me to a colleague in academic counseling who helped me tremendously. I changed majors, stayed on track, and this dramatically affected my experience at UMass - and my career." While Griffin is retired, she continues to talk in the Social Justice Education Program in the School of Education, and also to high school teachers, parents, coaches and athletic directors about making athletics a place of equality for everyone. Griffin currently helps speak with athletes and coaches about the importance of making the sports world a better place for gay and lesbian athletes. "Sports have been a lifelong passion," said Wong. "It is hard to understand today how small the sports industry was when I first became interested in this field in the late 1970s. There was only one sport law course offered in the U.S. at Boston College Law School. The sports law course I offered at the University of Massachusetts in 1979 was the first taught in a sport management program." Wong specializes in the law and business of sports, arbitration and college athletics. A few of his many positions at UMass would include his current position as professor of sport law in the Sport Management Department in the Isenberg School of Management and has been department head of the Sport Management Program. He has also authored and co-authored many books, one of which he will finish this spring, "The Essentials of Sports Law." Laurie Priest specializes in gender equity and addressing homophobia in sports. While having published many articles, she frequently serves as a presenter at conferences. She has been given awards such as the Mabel Lee Award from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and the Massachusetts Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Merit Award for outstanding leadership in women's athletics. Priest has also been inducted into the Northeast New Agenda Hall of Fame, and the Marymount University Athletic Hall of Fame. --- *This article can be viewed here. "Kat" [
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