Dana College

January Champion of Character

Respect- Responsibility- Integrity- Servant Leadership- Sportsmanship

“In this time when the sports pages are filled with stories about fighting spectators, over-zealous parents, wife abusing, drug impacted, self entitled athletes and mercenary coaches who chase the highest contract, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is piloting a program to define who we really are, focus on character and reclaiming the true spirit of the game. The NAIA is looking for athletes who are a combination of both competence and character.”

By Bruce Brown, NAIA Special Presenter

The Dana College Viking Leadership Council and Sports Information Department would like to announce the Champion of Character for the month of January.

Chelsey Williams (JR, Tabor, IA) – Women’s Basketball

Chelsey was nominated by Head Softball Coach Marcy Roff.  Coach Roff witnessed Chelsey go above and beyond her call as a student-athlete in the campus community.

Respect - she shows respect to all of her teammates, classmates and instructors.  She is an athlete on and off the court!

Responsibility - she gets her work done very well and takes responsibility for herself no matter where she is at.  I see her take responsibility for her teammates during games and practices by cheering them on and supporting them no matter what the score is.

Integrity - Chelsey has a very positive value system in which she leads her life with.  Others admire her.  She is polite to everyone around her. 

Servant Leadership - I have seen Chelsey take her teammates under her wing and show them how to be a true leader.  She leads by example and that is the best kind of teammate.  She serves her team every day!

Sportsmanship - Again, no matter what the score is, or if she is in or out of the game, Chelsey is cheering for her team.  She wants what's best for her team and puts her teammates before herself.

Head Women’s Basketball Coach Brenda Mechels added, “Chelsey is one of the hardest workers I have seen.  She will do anything for her teammates and to help the team succeed.”

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Champions of Character program, launched in 2000, is designed to instill an understanding of character values in sport and provide practical tools for student-athletes, coaches and parents to use in modeling exemplary character traits. The program currently reaches hundreds of thousands of students on nearly 300 college and university campuses in North America and extends into their surrounding communities.