Our Sahuaro Women’s Athletic Department is one of the three top finalists eligible to win the Tony Komadina Award! Over 100 schools in the state of Arizona applied, and the top three are Notre Dame Preparatory in Scottsdale, Rincon/University High, and our very own Sahuaro High School. The award is given to recognize schools who have attained overall excellence in their girls’ athletic programs.  The committee focused on schools that show equality between their men’s and women’s sports programs, while demonstrating progress and modernization over the years. The last time Sahuaro won this award was in 1993.

The award is very important to not only Cougar athletes, but all of Sahuaro. If we win, we will receive notoriety around the state that shows how our school focuses on equality of all students and what they do. We pride ourselves in our ability to succeed in many different programs, while acknowledging every athlete for their abilities.

On Thursday morning, a committee visit took place in our Career Center. The committee was greeted at the front entrance by female athletes in uniform, who helped them receive their personalized badges and guide them to where the meeting would be held. Nine Sahuaro athletes and five coaches were interviewed at the panel, and the committee was impressed with the quality of our sports facilities and the passion our female athletes possess.

I had the chance to be present for the beginning of the meeting to get some information. The committee was shown a power-point that showed our sports participation, the amount of athletic scholarships given to students, and the scores from past seasons to display our achievements. They also read some sports articles straight from The Paper Cut, and were happy to see how much our athletes are celebrated at Sahuaro.

Avery Miller is on the Cougar swim team and the softball team. She had very positive things to say about the award. “It’s really empowering to see us coming together instead of bringing each other apart. It would be an honor to win because female sports are just as prominent as men’s here at Sahuaro.”

Athletic Director and Coach. Steve Botkin also feels very proud to have Sahuaro as a finalist for this award. He worked nonstop to prepare for the committee visit to make them feel welcome and give them a good impression of our school. In an email, he thanked all of the staff and students who helped to make it possible. “The Sahuaro community amazes me every day. We are always here for each other and always willing to lend a helping hand.”

For now, we can cross our fingers and hope to win the Tony Komadina award! The equality we display at Sahuaro is something we should treasure, and even if we do not win, we should always take pride in our strong and mighty Cougar athletes.