North Cobb’s Anthonie Knapp (55) lead the team onto the field before their GHSA AAAAAAA second round playoff game against Roswell Friday, November 19, 2021 at North Cobb High School in Kennesaw. (Photo: Will Fagan)
North Cobb’s Anthonie Knapp (55) lead the team onto the field before their GHSA AAAAAAA second round playoff game against Roswell Friday, November 19, 2021 at North Cobb High School in Kennesaw. (Photo: Will Fagan)
Positivity is preached not only in the real world but especially in the realm of sports.
In both individual and team sports, coaches and players use positivity to boost team morale and psychological well being.
The annual Georgia Positive Athlete awards highlight student-athletes and coaches who have been named the “Most Positive” in their sport. Cobb County athletes were recognized not only on the regional level but also statewide.
North Cobb was awarded the honor as the Most Positive School across all schools in Georgia.
“Pretty big award,” athletic director Matt Williams said. “Last year, we won the Most Positive Award for the county, and this year we won both the county and the state award, so I could not be prouder.”
“Our coaches do a great job speaking publicly of our kids and speaking glowingly of the character of our athletes. Our student-athletes never get in trouble and would do the right things, and it brushes off on the student body and the school as a whole.”
Campbell’s Marcos San Miguel earned the Most Positive award for boys basketball. He helped raise more than $17,000 for his best friend and fellow student-athlete who was paralyzed during a football game.
“If our situations were reversed, which they very well could be, he would do something similar for me,” San Miguel told 11Alive.
Among the other statewide award recipients were Kennesaw Mountain’s Emma Phillips (tennis), Allatoona’s Katheryn Cockrell (girls lacrosse) and Marrieta’s Darby Dryden (girls multi-sport athlete).
The statewide winners will be recognized at the Georgia Positive Athlete Awards ceremony in June.
Twenty-five Cobb County regional winners were highlighted by Hillgrove cheer coach Jen Spiegel, as well as Pope’s Trey Kaiser, who was recognized as the boys multi-sport athlete honoree.
Spiegel was also the recipient of the 2022 Ashley Taube GCCA Coach of the Year Award, awarded to the Georgia Cheerleading Coaches Association’s most deserving coach.
Kaiser was a member of the Greyhounds’ 2022 state champion baseball team and has committed to the West Georgia to continue his baseball career. He was also a member of the Pope basketball team.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.