KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) has bestowed upon the Elon Phoenix women's soccer squad two of its highest team accolades. The Phoenix has been named one of recipients of the NSCAA/adidas College Women's Team Academic Award as well as the NSCAA Ethics/Sportsmanship Award. Elon, led by head coach Chris Neal, was one of only 10 NCAA Division I members to be awarded the Ethics/Sportsmanship Award.
The Team Academic Award is presented to programs which boast a minimum of a team GPA of 3.0 the previous academic year. This award is given for the 2007-08 academic year. This is the ninth time that the Elon program has claimed this honor (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008). A total of 267 women's teams, at all levels, posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher this year.
Elon was also honored with the NSCAA Ethics/Sportsmanship Award which is handed out in a Gold, Silver and Bronze fashion and is based on number of cards accrued throughout the year. The Phoenix team earned a Silver award (1-5 yellow cards all year), one of five teams at the NCAA Division I level to do so. No Division I programs earned a Gold award (no cards for the entire season). Five other Division I squads earned the Bronze award (6-10 yellow cards).
Silver award winners were: Elon, St. Bonaventure, San Jose State, Southeastern Louisiana and Wyoming. Bronze awards went to: Fresno State, Loyola Marymount, Sam Houston State, UNC Wilmington and West Virginia.
-- ELON --
