Cincinnati, November 30, 2015 – Saint Ursula Academy is proud to announce Tom Keefe as the 2015-2016 winner of the “Respect the Game of Life” award for his work with the Saint Ursula Academy community. The award recognizes individuals who display good sportsmanship, ethics and integrity in high school sports and/or co-curricular activities.
Tom Keefe is a founding member of the Saint Ursula Academy Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Committee in 2003 and has advised and counseled many coaches and athletes through the years. Additionally, he has played a vital role in the hiring of new head coaches for the Saint Ursula Athletics programs.
Tom Keefe has been involved in high school, collegiate, and professional sports for over 40 years as an athlete, coach, administrator, teacher, attorney, and scout. Coach Keefe earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Cincinnati. In 1980, he became as assistant head swimming coach at UC where during his eight years the Bearcats recorded seven top-25 finishes and produced 10 All-Americans. He continued his affiliation with UC as an adjunct assistant professor teaching Philosophy of Sports for 25 years. In 1998 Coach Keefe returned to the St. Xavier pool deck as a member of the Aquabombers coaching staff. During his tenure, St. Xavier has won 15 state championships and produced 70 all-Americans, as well as being crowned National Champs by both Swimming World Magazine (2001) and the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008).
Keefe has been a role model to current Saint Ursula Academy swim coach Ann Gartner ’77. “As I began my first season as the swim coach at Saint Ursula, Tom was one of the first people I contacted. I only hoped I could duplicate just a small part of the success he has brought to hundreds of young men at St. X.,” said Gartner when asked about Keefe’s influence on her career. “He taught me that we are not only coaches of swimming, but also coaching life skills that these kids can use to be successful people. Tom makes sure that all the athletes he encounters feel valued and important. Tom inspires both athletes and fellow coaches to work to the best of our abilities and there are always new heights and goals to strive towards.”
With the backing of the Ohio High School Athletic Association and to promote good sportsmanship and point out examples of positive behavior, the SUA Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Committee developed this award in the fall of 2009.
The recipient of the Respect the Game award can be a coach, educator, parent, official or even a person from outside our SUA community. They just need to embody the qualities of sportsmanship, ethics and integrity in their work in the school.
The criteria for a Respect the Game nomination is as follows:
- The recipient demonstrates a high level of sportsmanship every day.
- They understand the importance of high school co-curriculars as valuable and as such it is worthy of respect.
- The person acts with courtesy, dignity and pride.
- They demonstrate the importance of putting others ahead of themselves in an ongoing effort to practice the importance of teamwork.
- The recipient’s attitude is able to sway others to follow her and her methods of demonstrating good sportsmanship.
SUA is committed to ethics and integrity in athletics, clubs, student organizations and all co-curricular activities and rewards good sportsmanship. The school has a formal Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Committee that sets the standards and selects the award recipients. This focus on sportsmanship has earned Saint Ursula Academy the prestigious Harold A. Meyer Sportsmanship Award by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) for the past ten consecutive years.
To learn more about St. Ursula Academy, please visit www.saintursula.org.
Photo Caption: The Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity Committee presented Tom Keefe of Hyde Park the “Respect the Game Award” at a recent Pep Rally. Featured in the photograph are members of the committee junior Kate Perazzo of Anderson Township, senior Gracie Ehemann of Anderson Township, junior Ellie Rueve of Hyde Park, senior Sarah Moore of Villa Hills, SUA Theatre teacher Allison Pemberton, SUA President Lelia Kramer ’77, and SUA Athletics Director Mike Sipes.
St. Ursula Academy is a Catholic, college-preparatory, secondary school for young women known for academic excellence and rich tradition. St. Ursula welcomes students from more than 70 grade schools in the Greater Cincinnati area. In 2002 the Academy was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School. The campus, located at 1339 E. McMillan Street in East Walnut Hills has been the home of St. Ursula Academy and Convent since 1910. The Class of 2015 earned college scholarships totaling more than $19-million.