BLACK LION AWARD
For more information on the award please go to the following website: http://www.coachwyatt.com/

The Black Lion Award is given in memory of Major Don Holleder, former West Point All-American who died in combat in Vietnam on October 17, 1967 and the men of the Black Lions - the 28th Infantry Regiment - who died with him that day.

Any youth, middle school or high school team is invited to participate and present the award. In Don Holleder's honor, the Army Football Club presents the Black Lions Award annually to a member of the Army football team.

The Black Lion Award is NOT an individual award in the same sense as a Most Valuable Player award, because it is intended to go to a player who personifies team play - "who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder: leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself."

Enroll your team now - There is no cost to participate in the Black Lion Award. The Black Lion Award program is privately funded and administered and is not affiliated with any commercial enterprise or connected with any branch of the United States armed forces.

E-mail: coachwyatt@aol.com
OR: blacklions@coachwyatt.com

Be sure to provide us with this information:

(1) The name and location of your team/school

(2) The name of the contact person who will be responsible for administration of the award

(3) The e-mail address of the contact person

(4) The mailing address of the contact person (where we will mail the award)

* SCHOOLS OR YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS MAY ENROLL MORE THAN ONE TEAM
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE PROGRAM, BE SURE TO READ THE FAQ'S PAGE

The Black Lion Award is given with the approval of the 28th Infantry Association, and with the permission and approval of Major Holleder's former wife.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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 patch; a brief writeup of the award which you can use, if you wish, as your script in presenting the award; and a press release for your local news media.

Q. How do I enroll my team?

A. E-mail 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 the person who will be serving as your team's contact (in the event gthat 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. (That's for your benefit as much as the players', if only one of them is inspired to win the award.) 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.

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 is about things that the other kids don't always have the maturity to see or appreciate. The beauty of this award is that it allows coaches to use their mature judgment and recognize kids for the things 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 be the signee. 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 elaborate does the letter have to be?

A. It should be thorough. It has to pass the scrutiny of the Board. ("Timmy is a great kid. He is very deserving" isn't enough.) It is the opinion of the Board that a scanty letter devalues toe Award, and that if a player is worthy of the Black Lion Award, his coach ought to have plenty to say about him.

Deal with the award criteria, and go light on the statistics and All-Star honors.

Take a look at 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 details that you might not want others to read ("his parents are both drunks") because the letters will be shared with the Black Lions (28th Infantry Association) and with members of Major Holleder's family. Writing a letter nominating his player is a small effort on a coach's part in return for bringing a prestigious honor to one of his players. (For a representative sampling of other coaches' letters, go HERE)

And, it must be signed by the head coach, along with the address where he would like it to be sent.

Q. Is the award meant to go to the best player?

A. The Black Lion Award is not intended to be a "Most Valuable Player" award, although your MVP could certainly be your winner if he fits the criteria of the award. But unlike the "glory" posiitons, it is quite possible that your Black Lion Award could be a guard, or a center, or a defensive linemen. Wherever he plays, though, 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."

Talent or skill or statistics are not mentioned anywhere in the award criteria. Plenty of outstanding players are, unfortunately, jerks. (But that certainly doesn't mean that your Black Lion Award winner couldn't - or shouldn't - be your best player!)

Q. Could it go to someone who never plays at all?

A. Doubtful, unless we're talking about an injured starter who somehow provided examples of leadership. "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 - it is normally necessary to be a fairly good player in order to be a strong leader - to be one that the other players look up to and respond to.

The Black Lion Award definitely is not meant to be a "consolation" prize, to go to a player who didn't win any other award. 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.

It is NOT a "feel good" award for a youngster who surprised everybody by even making it through all the drills or coming to all the practices, or one who never complained even though he never got to play.

Q. How long does it take to get the award?

A. Your award packet will be mailed as soon as possible after your letter of nomination is received, but if timing is important, you should allow us a couple of weeks minimum because there is not enough money in the budget for overnight shipment.

Q. Can we have the award mailed directly to our winner?

A. No. We send the award packet to the head coach or in rare cases the administrator in the belief that the Black Lion Award should be awarded - 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 - at a high school it might mean varsity, JV and freshman teams, and it is possible to select one Black Lion Award from each team. Certain youth programs with several teams register so that they can present an award for every team, one per team.

But if more than one team from a program submits a nomination, we must receive a letter of nomination from each coach, explaining why his player fits the criteria of the award : leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and an unselfish devotion to the team. Notice that talent or stats have nothing to do with it. We would like someday to be able to give out Black Lion Awards to 1,000 different players on 1,000 different teams.

Q. But 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 per team... The fear of our board is that very soon, if left uncontrolled, the Black Lion Award could go the way of the lone high school valedictorian. The vote to select one was unanimous. I have coaching many teams from whom I could easily selected two or three. I considered myself blessed. But we can select only one.

Q. I'm having some issues here. This award should go to the most deserving player on the team. The problem, he's my son. Parents and players would really get a perception, real or not, that I'm way out of line. Fifth and sixth grade parents are a different breed. Got any advice?

A. It's your son and you have to be honest and fair with him. I know you're in a spot. I think the main issue is validating your choice. Maybe you should consider having the kids - and coaches, too, of course - vote for it. But one way or another, if your son is the most deserving, I don't think he should be deprived of it 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. I donate the labor as my way of trying to repay people I can never fully repay. Your offer is most kind, and perhaps at some point we may need help, but frankly, I am not savvy enough tax-wise to know how I would handle 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. Great idea. You have our permission to do so, and to use the Black Lion insignia. (You may not, however, use it in any way to disparage or belittle the award, 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. Try showing them this Web site. Say that you'd like to be able to present the award to one of your kids. Unless the person in charge has some serious issues, it should sell itself!

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 certainly may use anything at all on this site if it furthers 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 ways to take advantage of the benefits of participation is 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!