We believe there’s something more important than just winning or losing a tournament. We believe that the team, school, and fans who support their athletes with dignity and class are the true champions. That’s why we’ve proudly sponsored the WIAA/Rural Mutual Insurance Sportsmanship Award for over 55 years.
We want to congratulate Brookfield Central High School on being this year’s recipient of the Boys Tennis Sportsmanship Award.
We talked with Head Coach Jon Vogt and asked him what this award meant to him as a coach, to the team, and the community, along with how they teach their athletes about sportsmanship.
“It means a lot to all of us in the program since families are involved with the team and many coaches of other sports teach players at school, so it is an award that has a lot of help from other adults in the district. As a coaching staff, we meet many of our players when they are in elementary school in our junior program, so to see them grow up to not only finish near the top of all schools in the state in performance but also in sportsmanship is a very nice thing to see.
We are very fortunate to have players come to us from incredible families, so our players are already well versed in winning respectfully. Coach Steinbach, the coach before me, also stressed sportsmanship above all else for his 35+ years of coaching, so it’s really just a continuation of all those established practices. When we talk about court conduct, we stress that every point is really an opportunity to stay mentally strong and respectful of the game and their opponent.”
Coach Vogt started as an assistant coach in 2012 and has been head coach for Brookfield Central High School since the 2017 season. He says his favorite part of coaching is player growth and development. He went on to say, “Winning at a high level is definitely enjoyable, but that can’t happen every single year. Helping players grow and develop, however, can happen at every single level of play, every single day of the season.”
Congratulations again on a great season and winning the WIAA/Rural Mutual Sportsmanship Award! This is a great achievement for the Brookfield Central community.
