Every student-athlete at Newman University, along with the entire Athletic Department, celebrated the second annual Jetspy awards Monday, May 2 in the Dugan-Gorges Conference Center.
The Jetspy awards banquet, a play on ESPN’s Espy awards, is an annual event put on by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. After its start last year, the event gained popularity and took off among athletes at Newman, becoming the highlight and finale of the athletic year.
Student-athletes come dressed to the nines in their heels and bowties and are served a full dinner while they await the award presentations.
Students are allowed to nominate fellow student-athletes for the various Jetspy awards, like “Breakthrough Athlete of the Year” and “Rookie of the Year.” The nominations are sent in and a selection committee, comprised of Athletic Department staff members, select the final nominees and winners. The nominees are announced the night of the Jetspys, and the winners then get to come on stage and receive their awards, giving a short acceptance speech if they choose.
Various members of the Athletic Department hand out the awards, like coaches and trainers. Even Athletic Director Vic Trilli makes an appearance on stage.
Aside from the awards, each athletic team makes a music video or highlight reel, which are played between awards throughout the evening.
There is a red carpet set up outside the conference center for the athletes to strut their stuff on, and a photo area is set up for the players to pose with their teammates.
The hype for the Jetspys only seems to increase as each year passes, and if you were to ask any student-athlete on campus, they’d likely agree that the Jetspys are here to stay for a reason: They’re awesome.
