As a coach for 20 years, and current Athletic Director at Tuscarora High School in Frederick, Md., United Soccer Coaches Girls High School Advocacy Chair Howie Putterman tries to instill a culture of sportsmanship at his school. Tuscarora was recently honored with the Central Maryland Conference Sportsmanship Award.
The award, which began in the 2015-16 school year, is presented annually to one school. The award is voted on by all the high school principals and athletic directors in the conference and votes are based on sportsmanship observed in the past school year, taking into account behavior of coaches, student-athletes, spectators and parents. Before the 2018-19 school year a decision was made that schools with sportsmanship-related student-athlete or coach ejections would not be eligible for the award.
Below is an excerpt of an interview with Putterman where he talks about using sports as a vehicle to teach life lessons like sportsmanship, respect and honor.