FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NASPE to Induct UC Professor Jay Coakley into Hall of Fame

 Dr. Jay Coakley, professor emeritus of sociology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, will be inducted into the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) Hall of Fame for his internationally recognized work and writing related to sport, society, and culture. To be presented at NASPE's Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, April 3, at the Marriott Waterside Hotel in Tampa, Florida, other honorees that evening include the National Physical Education Teachers of the Year for Elementary, Middle and High School, the National Physical Education Administrator of the Year as well as the Athletic Director of the Year Award.

Past NASPE Hall of Fame inductees include University of Tennessee Women's Basketball Coach Pat Summitt, tennis greats Billie Jean King and the late Arthur Ashe, NFL Hall of Famers Nick Buoniconti and Anthony Munoz, Olympians such as the late Wilma Rudolph, Rulon Gardner, Dan Jansen, Rafer Johnson, Nancy Hogshead, Carl Lewis, Peter Vidmar, and Tony DiCicco, head coach of the 1999 Women's World Cup Champion Soccer Team, among others. Joining Dr. Coakley will be other 2009 Hall of Fame inductees:  Dr. Lawrence F. Locke, professor emeritus, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and softball Olympic gold medalist Dot Richardson, M.D.

According to NASPE President Fran Cleveland of Western Chester University of Pennsylvania, "The NASPE Hall of Fame honors outstanding individuals who have achieved new levels of excellence in sport and physical activity and inspired others by their example of what quality, physical activity and sport programs can do to make a better world." 

The awards are given to honor outstanding individuals who 1) make significant contributions to maintaining sport or/and physical activity as an integral part of the total education program; 2) further the image of sport and healthy physical activity for all; 3) accentuate the integral relationships of sport and physical activity to the total educational process; 4) encourage involvement in meaningful competitive sport or physical activity programs by influential educators and citizens in all walks of life; and 5) symbolize the educational and developmental potentials of sport and physical activity.

Spanning a career of over 30 years, Coakley has conducted more than 200 professional presentations on issues of race and cultural diversity in sports and academic institutions at universities and public forums worldwide, and often speaks with coaches and sport administrators on issues related to youth sports, gender, race and ethnicity, deviance and violence, and socialization in sport settings. Coakley is frequently contacted by media outlets, journalists, faculty and students to address current issues and sport in society around the globe with his main goal being to promote changes that make society and sports more democratic and humane.

Currently, he works as a writer and public speaker. He recently published the 10th edition of Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies (McGraw-Hill, 2007), a widely used text in the sociology of sport. This book has been translated into Japanese and Chinese, and published in versions adapted for Canadian students (2nd edition) and for students in Australia/New Zealand; a United Kingdome version will be published in 2009. Coakley has co-authored Making Decisions with Anita White from Sport England, co-edited Inside Sports (Routledge, 1999) and the Handbook of Sports Studies (Sage, Ltd., 2000).

Coakley was the founding editor of the Sociology of Sport Journal (1983-1989) and serves on the editorial boards of scholarly journals in sociology and kinesiology/physical education. He is past president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport as well as the Sport Sociology Academy of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).  Elected as a Fellow in the American Academy of Kinesiology & Physical Education, he has served as the chair of the Youth Sport Coalition of NASPE. In 2004 the Citizenship Through Sport Alliance and NASPE presented him with a national Sportsmanship Award for his work to make sports and physical activities more inclusive; and in 2007 the Institute for International Sport selected him as one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators, and the University of Chichester in West Sussex, England awarded him an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his outstanding leadership in the sociology of sport.

A former intercollegiate athlete, Coakley received his M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1972) degrees from the University of Notre Dame. Since the 1960s he has used concepts, research, and theories in sociology to critically examine social phenomena and promote changes that will make social worlds more democratic and humane. He currently lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

NASPE           

The preeminent national authority on physical education and a recognized leader in sport and physical activity, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) is a non-profit professional membership association that sets the standard for practice in physical education and sport. NASPE's 16,000 members include: K-12 physical education teachers, coaches, athletic directors, athletic trainers, sport management professionals, researchers, and college/university faculty who prepare physical activity professionals. NASPE seeks to enhance knowledge, improve professional practice, and increase support for high-quality physical education, sport and physical activity programs through research, development of standards, and dissemination of information.  It is the largest of the five national associations that make up the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD).  For more information, visit www.naspeinfo.org.

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Contact:
Paula Kun
pkun@aahperd.org
(703) 476-3461

The preeminent national authority on physical education and a recognized leader in sport and physical activity, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) is a non-profit professional membership association that sets the standard for practice in physical education and sport. NASPE’s 15,000 members include: K-12 physical education teachers, coaches, administrators, researchers, and college/university faculty who prepare professionals in these areas. NASPE seeks to enhance knowledge, improve professional practice, and increase support for high-quality physical education, sport and physical activity programs. It is the largest of the five national associations that make up the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD). For more information, visit www.naspeinfo.org.

The vision of AAHPERD is "Healthy People – Physically Educated and Physically Active!" Headquartered in Reston, VA, 25 miles west of Washington, DC, AAHPERD is the largest organization of professionals involved in physical education, physical activity, dance, school health and sport--all specialties related to achieving an active, healthy lifestyle. Its mission is to advance professional practice and promote research related to health and physical education, physical activity, dance and sport by providing its members with a comprehensive and coordinated array of resources, support and programs to help practitioners improve their skills to further the health and well-being of the American public. For more information, visit www.aahperd.org.