Hickory Creek Middle School earns IESA Sportsmanship Award

Hickory Creek Middle School was selected as a 2018 Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Division Sportsmanship Award. To earn the award, the school received the highest number of votes from member schools in its division. In the IESA notification letter, Assistant Executive Director Leslie Alappattu stated, “At IESA, we appreciate the efforts schools put forth toward developing young adults for life outside of school and the positive environment you’ve fostered with parents, coaches and students alike.”

Hickory Creek Athletic Director Jennifer Rodgers highlighted the school’s goals for sportsmanship. She stated, “Over the past several years, Hickory Creek has been promoting sportsmanship throughout all of the athletic programs. We have also made some recent changes which have brought an even more positive spotlight onto the school’s student athletes, as well as the coaches.” She explained that during all of the indoor athletic contests, several different messages are read at various points throughout the game that promote sportsmanship and positive behavior for athletes, spectators, coaches, and officials. The main gym has also added wall stencils promoting sportsmanship. One decal states, “Hickory Creek Middle School: Where SPORTSMANSHIP is a Priority. Let the Players Play, Coaches Coach, Officials Officiate, Spectators Be Positive.”

In addition, at the beginning of each season, every coach hosts a meeting to work collaboratively with both parents and athletes of the season’s character expectations. Throughout the different seasons, all of the coaches nominate an athlete each month who displays a positive attitude on and off the court, teamwork, and sportsmanship. The athletes’ photos are then displayed on a bulletin board located outside of the main gym.

Mrs. Rodgers continued, “All of the coaches at Hickory Creek devote countless hours for practices and games. During every season, the coaches are not only teaching the students to improve their game, but also modeling the behaviors the school would like its student athletes to display.”

Principal Will Seidelmann stated, “I couldn’t be more excited about this Sportsmanship award. Our coaches, athletes, and athletic director have worked extremely hard to set an example for our spectators and opponents. Keep up the good work!” Along with the award recognition, the school will receive an IESA Sportsmanship banner by the beginning of next school year to hang in the gym or playing field. The news will also be posted on the IESA Sportsmanship webpage and on the IESA Facebook page.

Shown: Hickory Creek Middle School Coaches & Administrators

Front row (l to r): Ellen Hogan, Erin Nemeth, Cristina Vallejo, Ryan Talaga, Matt Zemke

Middle row (l to r): Tania Wilson, Korinne Johnson, Peggy Luther, Jennifer Rodgers, Bridgett Flynn, Katie Krenner

Back row (l to r): Asst. Principal Lexi Oreluk, Josh Purpura, Matt Young, Sean Connolly, Mitch Stein, Principal Will Seidelmann

(Not pictured) Josh Napier, Brandon Egan, Jake Busch, Dan Finan, Asst. Principal Christine Slechter