2003 Award Honoree

Women's Soccer Team
University at Buffalo
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

On November 5, 2002, the women's soccer team from Bowling Green State University suffered an enormous loss. This was not about losing a game, but about losing a friend, a daughter, a teammate. Leslie Dawley, a freshman from Bowling Green, collapsed on the soccer field during a first round Mid-American Conference Championship game against the University at Buffalo. Tragically, she passed away that night at Wood County Hospital.

In the moments following Dawley's collapse, Jean-A. Tassy, Buffalo's head coach, showed tremendous poise and compassion as he ran to her side. He was there to hold her hand, comfort her and say a prayer. Although her knew very little about Dawley, he was drawn to her side in this terrifying moment. Those who witnessed the game said Coach Tassy showed incredible sportsmanship and represented himself with the utmost class and dignity.

At the request of Dawley's parents, the game resumed the next day in honor of their daughter. The Buffalo team, as a show of support to the Bowling Green team, warmed up at a nearby practice field rather than on the end of the field where Dawley had collapsed. This allowed the Bowling Green team time on the field, by themselves, to reflect and pray as a team.

Before the game, as the starters were announced, the Buffalo starters handed their grief-stricken counterparts a single yellow rose and exchanged hugs and tears. A moment of silence honoring the memory of Dawley was observed following the introductions. Bowling Green won the game, 2-1, in double overtime.

Of the match, Jean-Marc O'Connor, assistant referee, wrote the following: "…I have never been involved in a better match, or had a more profound experience of just how great athletics can be. November 5th in Bowling Green was tragic, yes; but November 6th was triumphant."

Everyone who was involved with this tragedy and triumph will not soon forget the sportsmanship and character that was displayed by the Buffalo women's soccer team and its coaching staff. The compassionate acts displayed were not lost on the more than 700 fans who filled the stands, a number of whom said they had never witnessed such sportsmanship.

Coach Tassy completed his eighth season at Buffalo last fall. Since taking over the helm in 1995, Tassy has built the women's soccer program into a national contender. For the past four seasons, the Bulls have advanced to postseason competition and have reached double-digit victories in three of the past four years. In 2000, Tassy was named the MAC coach of the year.