The United States Sports Academy is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

focused on sports and located in

Daphne, Alabama Daphne () is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The city is located along I-10, 11 miles east of Mobile and 170 miles southwest of the state capital of Montgomery. The 2010 United States ...

. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided its sports programs to more than 60 countries around the world.

History

Thomas P. Rosandich founded the Academy in 1972 in response to an inferior performance by the United States Olympic team in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

. Athletes were lacking quality coaching and training. The academy's programs served as an education resource to upgrade coaching through instruction, research, and service. The academy's campus is also home to the American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA), which was founded in 1984. The collection contains more than 1,000 works of sport art from world-renowned artists, many of whom have been honored by the academy as Sport Artist of the Year. The academy is also developing an outdoor sculpture park on campus, which is dedicated to celebrating sport with the erection of numerous

environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that cl ...

sculptures. The academy also hosts the Awards of Sport series, also known as its tribute to "The Artist and the Athlete". These awards honor sports figures for their accomplishments and achievements in such things as performance, humanitarian activities, fitness, and media.

Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award

The Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching AwardSee also the ''Sporting News'' list of the 50 greatest coaches of all time (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, college basketball, and college football). is presented each year, for the preceding calendar year. It was first presented in 1985, for the 1984 sports year. Each recipient receives the USSA's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medal and Academy Rosette. For list of awardees through 2014, see footnoteAmos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award
webpage. American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA) website. United States Sports Academy. Retrieved 2011-01-09. There is also a separate Amos Alonzo Stagg Award presented by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

(AFCA).

Carl Maddox Sport Management Award

The

Carl Maddox Carl Maddox was the athletics director of Louisiana State University (1968–1978) and Mississippi State University (1979–1983). The Carl Maddox Field House at LSU is named after him along with the Carl Maddox Track and Field Complex at Mississ ...

Sport Management Award is presented each year. It was first presented in 1991.Awards of Sport: Carl Maddox Sport United States Sports Academy. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
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Notable alumni

Aimee Buchanan Aimee Buchanan (born June 11, 1993) is an American-Israeli former competitive figure skater who competed in ladies' singles for Israel. She is a two-time Israeli national champion and competed in the team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Ea ...

, American-born Olympic figure skater for Israel * Vicky Bullett, professional basketball player and coach,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Olympic gold medalist * Marco Cardinale, Italian sports scientist * Mark Chay, Singaporean Olympic swimmer, sports executive and Nominated Member of the Parliament of Singapore *

Ed Comeau Ed Comeau is a Canadian and head coach of the Georgia Swarm of the NLL. He is the former head coach of the Orlando Titans, until they folded in 2010. Comeau began his NLL coaching career with the Toronto Rock, as an assistant coach under the lege ...

, Canadian lacrosse coach *

Lynn Conkwright Lynn Conkwright (May 30, 1954 – June 14, 2017) was a professional female bodybuilder from the United States. Biography Lynn was born on May 30, 1954, in Norfolk, Virginia. Conkwright trained for eight years in gymnastics, and won the Vi ...

, professional

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

* Latoya Dacosta, Jamaican

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

executive *

Steve Hawkins Stephen Greg Hawkins (born August 3, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and the former head men's basketball coach at Western Michigan University. He had previously served as the head coach at Quincy University. Background Hawkins ...

, college basketball coach *

Quentin Hillsman Quentin Jerome Hillsman (born October 16, 1970) was the head women's college basketball coach for the Syracuse Orange. He held that position from 2006 to 2021 and is only the fourth coach in the 40-year history of the program. Early life Hillsman ...

, college basketball coach *

Tony Hobson Anthony C. Hobson (born March 29, 1959) is an American college women's basketball coach currently coaching at Fort Hays State University. Since Hobson took over at Fort Hays State, the programs as won a conference regular season championships a ...

, college basketball coach * Mike Leach, college football coach *

Dennis Lindsey Dennis Lindsey is an American professional basketball executive. He currently holds an advisory role with the Utah Jazz. After holding the role of general manager from 2012 to 2019, Lindsey was then promoted to Executive Vice President of Baske ...

, professional basketball executive *

Chad Lunsford Chad Kevin Lunsford (born February 24, 1977) is an American football coach who is currently the tight ends coach at Florida Atlantic. He previously served as the head coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles football team. He was awarded the job on ...

, college football coach * Noemi Lung Zaharia, Romanian swimmer,

Olympic silver medalist * Greg McDermott, college basketball coach * Michael Nakazawa, Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

* Conor O'Shea, Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player and coach *

LaTanya Sheffield LaTanya Sheffield (born October 11, 1963, in El Cajon, California) is a retired hurdler from the United States, who finished in eight place in the women's 400 metres hurdles final at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Career The 1985 NCAA champion runni ...

, Olympic hurdler

References

External links

* {{Authority control Sports academies Private universities and colleges in Alabama Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Baldwin County, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1972 Museums established in 1984 1972 establishments in Alabama