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Last updated on Wednesday, May 24, 2017
(CAMPBELLSBURG) - The West Washington High School football team was awarded the 2017 Superior Sportsmanship Award, a national recognition.
The school was awarded the honor following a game between the Senators and Indianapolis Washington Continentals.
"The varsity football team at West Washington High School embodies the highest ideals of spirit and respect," reads the announcement on the Varsity Brands website. "Their integrity is best exemplified by a game that officials report, was 'the best displays of sportsmanship seen in many years of working.'
"When a rival team could only put 10 players on the field, West Washington removed a player from the line to ensure a fair game. The West Washington football team prides itself on maintaining a family atmosphere, and on inviting guests to their family with open arms."
West Washington was one of three top finalist in the country along with Cleveland High School in Seattle, Washington, and Narragansett High School in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
This award will honor one athletic team that shows respect and graciousness to opposing teams, referees and school groups. Even when the chips are down, this team roots for their players until the end. This team goes out of its way to welcome visiting opponents and maintains a positive attitude during all events.
The school received $2,000 as part of the award.
West Washington Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Phillip Bowsman accepted the award on the behalf of the school from Maribeth Bisienere, senior vice president of Downtown Disney, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and Waterparks.
"I'd like to thank Varsity Brands for giving us this opportunity to put our school on the map, to recognize, not just our coaching staff, but our whole school, our players and our community," he said at the award show. "This was definitely an award that was earned, not just by our football team, but by the entire community at West Washington High School.
"We started preparing our guys a week in advance for this game," said Bowsman. "We talked a lot about how we wanted to handle things and the boys did an amazing job. I talked about the community and the students. We had about 20 to 30 of our students who went over to sit on their team's section because I think they had maybe two fans come to the game. Our kids, on their own, without anyone asking them, got up, went over and just cheered for anything, good or bad, for them. There were a lot of factors that went into us winning this. It was a football game that gave us a opportunity to demonstrate sportsmanship, which gave us the chance to go to the awards show."
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