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BLACK LION AWARD
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY TO ACQUAINT YOURSELF WITH THE BLACK LION AWARD PROGRAM
Q. What does the award consist of?
A. You will receive a packet consisting of a certificate with the player's name on it, signed by General James Shelton, Honorary Colonel of the Black Lions; a Black Lions regimental emblem (patch) like the one above, and a brief writeup of the award which you can use, if you wish, as your script in presenting the award
Q. How do I enroll my team?
A. E-mail all particulars to coachwyatt@aol.com - include the name of the team or school, and the name, mailing address and e-mail address of the head coach and (if applicable) the person who will be serving as your team's contact (in the event that is not also the head coach).
For example: East End Falcons - Staten Island, New York - Vince Wilson - 555 East 14th St, Staten Island, NY 15055 - vwilson@aol.com
Q. What do I have to do from there?
A. You need to inform your team about the Award and what it stands for, and what you'll be looking for in selecting your team's Black Lion. (That's for your benefit as much as the players', because a team of players inspired to become Black Lions will be a great team to coach!) Then, at the end of the season, you need to select your winner, and send his name, along with a letter of nomination, to coachwyatt@aol.com
Q. Who selects the award winner?
A. It is the responsibility of the head coach to decide how his team's Black Lion Award winner is chosen. Whether he does so on his own or by polling the members of his staff is his decision.
Q. I am leaning toward letting our team choose the recipient
A. I think that would be a big mistake. Popularity is what wins most elections among kids, and this award is not about popularity. Nor is it about athletic ability. It's about the sort of things that the other kids don't always have the maturity to see or appreciate. That's what we're trying to teach them. The beauty of this award is that it allows coaches to use their mature judgment and recognize kids for the things that coaches see that kids aren't always wise enough to see. At most, a ballot of the players might be used as one facet of the selection.
Q. Who writes the letter?
A. The coach may designate someone to write the letter, but he must sign off on the selection. We cannot accept a nomination that is not signed by the head coach.
Q. Can I e-mail my letter of nomination or do I have to mail it?
A. E-Mail is actually preferable, because of our ability to edit it. A Word document e-mailed to us is fine.
Q. How thorough should the letter be?
A.Very. If the letter does not adequately address the criteria, we may have to ask you to rewrite and re-submit, and especially if you need the award in time for a presentation, this could create problems. Please save all of us a lot of time and read this carefully: Your letter should be thorough and detailed. If not, it will not pass the scrutiny of the Board. ("John is a great kid. He is very deserving" isn't enough. No doubt he is, but we don't know your player the way you do, so you must provide us with evidence that he meets our standards.)
It is the opinion of the Board that if a player is worthy of the Black Lion Award, his coach ought to have plenty to say about him, and that a scanty letter disrespects and devalues the Award. We believe that writing a letter nominating his player is a small effort on a coach's part in return for bringing a prestigious honor to his team and to one of his players.
Get right to the point - tell us why your player meets the award criteria, and provide us with examples to illustrate that.
Do not waste words telling us what a presitgious award the Black Lion Award is.
Go light on the statistics and All-Star honors.
Do not tell us about all the obstacles your nominee has had to overcome. This is not a hardship award.
Address the criteria - leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and an unselfish concern for the team - and explain why your nominee measures up.
Give examples and be specific, (but please leave out personal details that you or your player might not want others to read, because the letters will be shared with the Black Lions (28th Infantry Association) and with members of Major Holleder's family. (For a representative sampling of other coaches' letters, go HERE)
When you're done your letter, ask an English teacher to read it over and clean it up.
If you prefer not to write the letter yourself, dictate it to someone you know who will write the letter for you.
Finally, make sure that the letter is signed by the head coach, and make sure to include the address where you would like the award to be sent.
Q. Is the award meant to go to the best player?
A. Not necessarily. But it certainly could. The Black Lion Award is not intended to be a "Most Valuable Player" award, but your MVP could certainly be your winner if he fits the award criteria. But unlike the "glory" posiitons, it is quite possible that your Black Lion Award might be a linemen. He would normally be a regular, but wherever he plays, whatever his role may be, he is "that football player who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder: leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and a demonstrated concern for his team ahead of himself."
Statistics or all-star awards are not mentioned anywhere in the Black Lion Award criteria.
Q. Could it go to someone who never plays at all?
A. Highly doubtful, unless we're talking about the rare case of an injured starter who somehow provided inspirational leadership. Don Holleder, the inspiration for the award, was a "coach on the field." He was a man who charged into the line and charged into battle. "Leadership" is the first of the Black Lion Award criteria, and - except for the case of a player's inability to play due to an injury - in our opinion it is necessary to be a regular, and a fairly good player, in order to be a strong leader - to be one that the other players look to and respond to.
IMPORTANT! WHAT THE BLACK LION AWARD IS NOT
The Black Lion Award is NOT a "feel good" award. If you don't have a player who meets the criteria, help us to honor the spirit of the award by taking a pass this year.
It is not intended for the youngster who surprised everybody by even making it through all the drills or for making it to all the practices, or for "never complaining." (We get that a lot, and we don't pay it any attention.)
The Black Lion Award is definitely not meant to be a "consolation" prize, for a player who didn't win any other award.
It is NOT a "hardship" award, to recognize the player who has overcome hardship. Only if the player meets the other criteria would this be of interest.
It is NOT a "hardest worker" or "Most Improved", "Best Citizen" or "Best Student" award, either, (although your winner certainly could be all of those things).
Q. How long does it take to receive the award?
A. Your award packet will be mailed as soon as possible after your letter of nomination is received and approved by the Board, but if timing is important, you should allow us a couple of weeks at a minimum
Q. Can we have the award mailed directly to our winner?
A. No. We send the award packet to the head coach or to his designated administrator in the belief that the Black Lion Award should be presented - and its recipient honored - in a public ceremony.
Q. I just found out that our school is having its awards day next Friday. We won't have another one until after Christmas. I would like to give my Black Lion Award at this ceremony if possible. I realize that you are 3 hours behind us, but I need to know if I can get the award by the 24th of October.
A. We do work on a high school schedule, and since most high schools are still playing in mid-October, the awards are not normally ready to be sent out until mid-November. If we can't get you the actual award in time, we can send you a pdf image from which you can print a temporary certificate for presentation purposes.
Q. I hope I understand this correctly. It's not just one person in the country that gets the award, right? It's one person from any school that puts in a nomination, right? Let me know if I am not correct, please.
A. It is limited to one person from each team, but a program might have more than one team - a high school might have varsity, JV and freshman teams, and it may present one Black Lion Award to each team. Youth programs with multiple teams may register so that they can present an award for every team - one per team.
Directors of youth organizations please note: If more than one team from a program submits a nomination, we must receive a letter of nomination signed by each coach, and each letter of nomination must meet our standards.
Q. We have two players on our team who are both deserving...
A. Unfortunately, the stipulation of the award is that it will go to one player on a team. The fear of our board is that if left uncontrolled, the Black Lion Award could go the way of the lone high school valedictorian. The vote to select only one was unanimous. If you could easily selected two or three winners, consider youself blessed. But you can nominate only one.
Q. I'm having some issues here. This award should go to the most deserving player on the team. The problem is, he's my son. Parents and players may get the perception, real or not, that I'm way out of line. Got any advice?
A. It's your son and you have to be honest with yourself and fair to him. I know you're in a spot. I think the main issue is validating your choice. You should certainly consider having the other coaches vote for it. But one way or another, if your son is the most deserving, I don't think it's fair that he should be deprived of the honor because his dad is the coach.
Q. How is the award funded? Do you need additional funding for it? Can I help in any way?
Up to this point, the award has been funded by the 28th Infantry Association (think of it as an alumni group) and by a Friend of the Black Lions who chooses to remain anonymous. In administering the award I donate my labor as my way of trying to repay people whom I can never fully repay. Your offer is most kind, and perhaps at some point we may need help, but at this time there is no way to accept tax-deductible donations. (I might add that one of the concerns of the Black Lions and of Major Holleder's family when the idea of the award was submitted to them for their approval was that it would never be tinged by commercialism.)
Q. Where should I have my player send his thank-you letter?
A. He can e-mail it to coachwyatt@aol.com and we'll see that it gets into the right hands!
Q. How will I find out any further information about the award?
A. Any further information that Black Lion teams will need to know will be found on this site, and also on my NEWS page, which is updated twice weekly.
Q. I would like to have tee-shirts made saying that we are a Black Lions team.
A. You have our permission to do so, and to use the Black Lion insignia. (You may not, however, use it in any way that disparages or belittles the award, Don Holleder, the Black Lions, the game of football, or the United States or its armed forces or its Commander in Chief, nor may you imply any connection between the Black Lion Award and any commercial message or endorsement.)
Q. I'm pushing for the Black Lion Award at our school Our system is very slow to change - how would you recommend approaching them?
A. Say that you'd like to be able to present the award to one of your kids, and show them this Web site.
Q. Can I have your permission to print off the information about the Black Lion Award on your Web page so I can include it in my packet to hand out at my parent meeting?
A. You may use anything at all on this site that might further understanding of the Black Lion Award.
Q. I have been agonizing over my selection for the Black Lion Award. In truth, I failed to inform my players about the award, in part to see who would naturally display the fine qualities of Major Holleder. This may have been unfair to the players. In any event, I have no one player I believe displays all five of the attributes listed in your Black Lion Award FAQs. I would gladly accept your advice here.
A. Your experience is not unique. We have had a few other coaches write us to tell us that. Do not feel that you simply must select someone. To our way of thinking, it elevates the prestige of the Black Lion Award to hear a coach say that in his opinion, he did not have a player who qualified.
One of the best ways to take benefit from participation in the Black Lion Award program is to tell the players about the program in advance. There will be at least one who will make up his mind that he wants to be the Black Lion. May your team next year be all Black Lions!