SALT LAKE CITY (March 27, 2015) – The Utah Jazz will hold their ninth annual Junior Jazz Sportsmanship Party at EnergySolutions Arena on Tuesday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m. All Junior Jazz participants, coaches and families are invited to attend at no cost. Hosted by two Jazz players, the event is designed to honor and reward teams that best exemplify sportsmanlike conduct throughout the season.
The Jazz players will also serve as coaches for a celebrity basketball game, featuring former NFL quarterback Scott Mitchell, female football phenom Sam Gordon, five-year-old Jazz free agent signee JP Gibson, former college athletes and local media personalities. Public address announcer Dan Roberts, Jazz Bear and the America First Jazz Dancers will be part of the game festivities.
The Junior Jazz Sportsmanship Program was launched in 2005 in an effort to highlight the importance of fair play and respect on the court. Following each Junior Jazz game throughout the season, every participating basketball team receives a sportsmanship rating from the scorekeepers and referees based on the behavior of the players, coaches and parents. The team from each age group with the highest cumulative score at the end of the season wins the sportsmanship award.
The 2014-15 Junior Jazz Sportsmanship Program award winners include:
Industrial Supply Team of the Year: Stansbury Academy (Magna)
Savage Companies Official of the Year: Sarah Duncan (Herriman)
Larry H. Miller Dealerships Player of the Year: Jessie Glover (Kanab)
Zero Fatalities Player of the Year: Logan Nilsen (Layton)Scheels Coach of the Year: Tony Nisse (Provo)
Denny’s Director of the Year: Trish Cooke (Murray)
“Junior Jazz is a model program that has touched generations of kids and parents with positive recreational sport experiences that emphasize being active, having fun and displaying good sportsmanship,” said Randy Rigby, Utah Jazz president.
Now in its 32nd year, Junior Jazz is the largest and longest-running youth basketball league in the NBA with more than 50,000 players in seven states. The program emphasizes the development of teamwork, fundamental basketball skills and fun. Participants include kindergarteners through 12th-graders, many of whom return year after year. The Junior Jazz program is supported by Industrial Supply, Zero Fatalities, Scheels, Denny’s, Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Savage Companies.