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MHSAA News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Jan. 14, 2008
Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

Jane Bos Selected As 2007-08 Recipient Of
Women In Sports Leadership Award

wislbos

EAST LANSING, Mich.  – Jan. 14– Jane Bos, the prep sports editor  at the Grand Rapids Press, has been named the recipient of the 2007-08 Women In Sports Leadership Award by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association. She is shown here receiving the award from MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts at the 18th Women In Sports Leadership Conferencein Lansing on Feb. 10.

Each year the Representative Council considers the achievements of women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics. 

The only female prep sports editor at a major daily newspaper in the state, Bos is in her 19th year at the Grand Rapids Press, where she has won numerous awards from the Michigan Press Association and the Associated Press for her writing.  Her status as one of the top authorities on high school sports has been recognized through her work with the Detroit Lions to help select weekly and annual Football Coach of the Week and Coach of the year awards; and an honor called Tomorrow’s Winners, bestowed by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame on deserving high school student-athletes.  She also serves on various Associated Press committees, is a featured guest on local television and radio program on high school football, and annually speaks to numerous students from the college to elementary school levels about sports writing.

Bos entered the sports writing world after a three-sport high school athletic career at Hudsonville Unity Christian High School, from which she was graduated in 1982.  She went on to play volleyball at Calvin College, earning a degree in fine arts in 1986.  She continues to serve Calvin on its alumni board, and as a contributing writer for its alumni magazine.  She also coaches local youth sports teams.

“Whenever Jane Bos walks into an athletic facility in our area, we greet a reporter who is genuine, knowledgeable, fair, and who has the best interests of educational athletics at heart,” says an administrator from the Ottawa-Kent Conference, which nominated her for the award.  “She was among the early participants when athletic opportunities girls exploded in the 1970s, and now provides wonderful recognition for today’s participants – girls and boys alike.  She provides a great service to the interscholastic athletic community and still finds time for her family.  We have indeed been fortunate to have experienced equity and integrity through the journalism work of Jane Bos.”

“The growth of female athletic opportunities in the last 30 years is the result of the seeds planted by yesterday’s on-the-field participants and their continued impact on sports-related professions today.  In Jane Bos, you have one of yesterday’s players now realizing the leadership role she has in promoting sports in general and females in sports in particular,” says John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. 

“In a corner of the sports world which is still male-dominated, Jane has established herself as a credible journalist in her writing and directing the staff of one of the newspapers which provides some of the best high school sports coverage in the state.  She help gives balanced coverage to a wider than ever variety of high school sports, and is able to write the tough stories when necessary with a high level of professionalism and integrity.  It is with great pleasure that we honor her with the Women In Sports Leadership Award.”

Bos is the 19th recipient of the Women In Sports Leadership Award.  Past recipients are:

1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,600 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.

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