The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Women's Soccer Holds Eighth-Annual Awards Banquet
1/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Jan. 26, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The 2003 Conference USA champion UAB women's soccer team held its eighth-annual postseason awards banquet over the weekend in Bartow Arena, as friends and family of the program officially recognized the numerous accolades that were garnered by the Blazers during the 2003 season.
The UAB coaching staff has hosted the annual banquet every spring since the program's inception in 1996 and honors team members in three categories: Most Valuable Player, Coaches Award and Most Improved Player. The MVP and Most Improved Player awards are calculated by a vote of the team's players, while the Coaches Award is voted on by the UAB coaching staff.
In the awards ceremony portion of Friday's gala, the prestigious Coaches Award was given to a pair of Blazer players in sophomore Leigh Burton and junior Suzanna LaMotte.
The Coaches Award, which exemplifies the hard work and dedication shown by a Blazer player throughout the entire season, is generally given to the player or players that continually display a positive attitude during practices, training sessions and weightlifting. Friday marked the second straight year that the honor was awarded to two players after Lisa Nowoslawski and Melissa Sherrell shared the accolades in last season.
With more than half of the players on the UAB women's soccer team receiving votes for Most Improved Player during the 2003 season, the Blazer coaching staff decided to extend the award to the entire team. UAB improved from a 9-9-1 overall record in 2002 to finish 13-5-1 during the 2003 campaign, while winning its first C-USA Championship title.
The voting for team MVP was again too close to be determined as it uncovered a three-way tie between senior Jill Knottek and juniors Tara Kidwell and Jenny Rynders. Kidwell and Rynders shared co-MVP honors a year ago and Rynders was named a team MVP for the third-consecutive season on Friday.
Knottek, who was recently named a UAB assistant coach, led the Blazers in both assists (7) and game-winning goals (4) during the 2003 season, and finished her illustrious four-year career as the fifth-leading scorer in UAB history with 23 goals.
UAB's leading goal-scorer and points leader in 2003, Kidwell, accumulated 10 goals and compiled 24 points on the season. She was named a First-Team C-USA member in 2003 and moved into second place on the Blazers' all-time scoring list. Kidwell, who has scored 24 goals in three seasons, only needs to score two more goals in order to claim UAB's career scoring record.
Rynders, a native of Marietta, Ga., ended the 2003 season with five goals and two assists from her midfield position, and was named a Second-Team All-C-USA performer. She was also named to the 2003 C-USA All-Tournament team and garnered NSCAA Academic All-South Region honors.
The UAB women's soccer team finished the 2003 campaign as the C-USA regular-season champions and registered a school-record 13 victories. The Blazers concluded the season with an impressive 13-5-1 overall record and were ranked as high as eighth in the NSCAA Southeast Regional rankings.
2003 UAB Women's Soccer Team Honors
Coaches Award: Leigh Burton and Suzanna LaMotte
Most Improved Player Award: Team
Most Valuable Player Award: Tara Kidwell, Jill Knottek and Jenny Rynders
