4 schools selected as WPIAL Sportsmanship Award recipients

By: Michael Love
Friday, October 20, 2023 | 1:36 PM

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Armstrong, Elizabeth Forward, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and South Fayette have been honored by the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League as the recipients of the WPIAL Sportsmanship Awards for the 2022-23 school year.

It is the program’s 27th year.

This is the first selection for Armstrong, the 70th school to receive laurels.

South Fayette is a sportsmanship winner for a league-record eighth time.

It’s the third honor for OLSH and the first for the school since 2006-07.

Elizabeth Forward is recognized for the second time having won its first WPIAL Sportsmanship Award in 1997-98 in the second year of the program.

The PIAA and WPIAL launched the program entitled “Sportsmanship: The Only Missing Piece is You” in 1997 and began recognizing schools with the purpose of promoting sportsmanship in the schools and rewarding the best demonstration of the elements of good sportsmanship.

Baldwin, Bentworth, Derry, East Allegheny, Knoch, Peters Township, Shenango, South Side, Uniontown and Woodland Hills were honored that first year (1996-97).

The selection process was based on the fall, winter and spring seasons of the 2022-23 school year. Schools were eligible for nomination by self-assessment, by another school, or by an officials’ chapter.

Nominated schools completed an application, and the WPIAL Sportsmanship Steering Committee then met to discuss the nominees, with a maximum of five schools eligible to be selected for the award.

The Wilson Group, the presenting sponsor of the WPIAL Sportsmanship Award, will distribute a $5,000 prize to be shared among the winning schools.

Armstrong, Elizabeth Forward, OLSH and South Fayette will be recognized at the WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit at the Sen. John Heinz History Center and Sports Museum on Nov. 8.

WPIAL Sportsmanship Award History

Year-by-Year

Year – School(s)

2022-2023 – Armstrong, Elizabeth Forward, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, South Fayette

2021-2022 – Beaver, Hampton, Ligonier Valley, Penn-Trafford, Saint Joseph

2020-2021 – Derry, Hampton, Laurel, Moon, Upper St. Clair

2019-2020 – Hampton, Seneca Valley

2018-2019 – Peters Township, Seneca Valley, West Greene, Winchester Thurston

2017-2018 – Hampton, West Allegheny, Yough

2016-2017 – Avonworth, Beaver Falls, Greensburg Salem

2015-2016 – New Brighton, Peters Township, Trinity, Waynesburg Central, West Greene

2014-2015 – Peters Township, Seneca Valley, South Fayette, South Park, West Allegheny

2013-2014 – Bethel Park, Moon, Saint Joseph, South Fayette, South Park

2012-2013 – Avonworth, Quaker Valley, South Fayette, South Park

2011-2012 – Central Valley, Hampton, South Fayette, The Summit Academy

2010-2011 – Chartiers Valley, Montour, South Fayette

2009-2010 – Hampton, Indiana, Yough

2008-2009 – Bethel Park, Fox Chapel, Hampton, North Hills, West Allegheny

2007-2008 – Bethel Park, Chartiers Valley, Freeport, North Hills, Serra Catholic

2006-2007 – Burgettstown, Indiana, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Riverview

2005-2006 – North Hills, West Allegheny

2004-2005 – Keystone Oaks, North Hills

2003-2004 – Hempfield Area, North Hills, South Allegheny, West Allegheny, Western Beaver

2002-2003 – Ambridge, Carmichaels, Connellsville, North Hills, Shady Side Academy

2001-2002 – Ambridge, Derry, Indiana, Mt. Lebanon, North Hills, West Allegheny

2000-2001 – Albert Gallatin, Blackhawk, Derry, Kiski Area, Laurel, South Fayette, Southmoreland, Uniontown

1999-2000 – Connellsville, Derry, Ford City, Norwin, Peters Township, South Fayette, The Summit Academy, Woodland Hills

1998-1999 – Butler, Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Greensburg Salem, Mt. Pleasant, Neshannock, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland, The Summit Academy

1997-1998 – Apollo-Ridge, Elizabeth Forward, Franklin Regional, Greater Latrobe, Quaker Valley, Riverview, Southmoreland, South Park, Uniontown, West Mifflin

1996-1997 – Baldwin, Bentworth, Derry, East Allegheny, Knoch, Peters Township, Shenango, South Side, Uniontown, Woodland Hills

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Armstrong, Elizabeth Forward, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, South Fayette