On Tuesday, November 17th, 2009, Dallas United gathered at The Village Country Club to celebrate the 2009 season with our end-of-year banquet and awards ceremony.  The banquet was marked with slideshows, speeches, an Italian feast, and an open bar.  The Banquet is a classy and wonderful tradition.

 

The Crude slideshow will be added to the Media section.  Grit's slideshow is a compilation of photos taken throughout the year already on the website, but Grit's funny awards presentation will be added to the Media section as well.

 

Awards

The most important part of the banquet (besides free food and an open bar), are the awards.  Each team generally gives out a Most Improved Player, Most Valuable Defensive Player, Most Valuable Offensive Player, Most Valuable Overall Player, and a Spirit Award.  Most Valuable and Most Improved player awards are handed out by the captains of each team.  The Spirit Award is voted on by the players of each team.  

 

Crude Awards

 

Most Improved Player - Steve Johnson, selected to recognize and honor is tremendous weight loss over the course of the season.  He worked harder than anyone else to improve himself physically and mentally throughout the 2009 season.  Overall Crude saw tremendous improvement from several players throughout the year.  The entire team is proud of how they grew individually and communally over the course of the summer.

 

Most Valuable Defensive Player - Danny Tipton, selected to recognize his deep defense and overall effort and value.  Crude was challenged to match up with the height of most teams they faced such that they could not defend the deep game.  When Danny came to crude, that fact was no longer true.  He gave the team a much needed and appreciated presence against opposing teams' all star players.  

 

Most Valuable Offensive Player - Kevin Christian, selected to recognize his efficacy and understanding of the offense.  Kevin brought a consistent ability to score and threaten unsuspecting opponents. 

 

Most Valuable Overall Player - Jimmy Robarge, a veteran of Crude, selected to recognize his consistent efforts in key situations.  Without Jimmy, Crude would have been challenged to make the big plays he was able to come up with time and again.  He was a huge part of Crude's 2009 success.

 

Spirit Award - Victor Van Scoitt, was selected to recognize his perennially positive outlook on any  situation.  His humor kept his teammates in high spirits at practice and games.  His commitment to success was infectious to his teammates.  He is respected and loved by all.

 

Spirit Award - Eric Cooper, was selected to recognize his consistent dedication and positive attitude.  After having suffered a broken wrist, Eric's dedication to the team never waivered.  He stayed focused on his goals, attended every practice, and attended nearly every tournament, driving from Florida to attend regionals.  

 

Grit Awards

 

Gonzales Award (Most Improved Player) - Phil Rollo, selected to recognize his tremendous improvement as a player in 2009.  Phil became a defensive mainstay who was critical to Grit's ability to convert defensive stops into defensive breaks time and again.  Phil was already a solid player.  This award says a lot about how much respect Phil garnered from his teammates this season.

 

Price Award (Most Valuable Defensive Player) - Arthur Corbitt, selected to recognize his incredible efforts on defense. No one expected this mid-season pickup to have the impact Arthur had on Grit's 2009 season.  He has the ability to make ridiculous plays when the odds are highly against him.  After making a huge defensive play, Arthur was practically un-guardable and pulled down disc after disc in the end zone.  

 

Miller Award (Most Valuable Offensive Player) - Matt Jackson, selected to recognize his contributions to Grit's offense.  The 2009 offensive line was made up of "studs" (i.e., really good players).  So Matt's award shows just how good of a player he is.  He comes down with 50/50 discs almost 100% of the time.  He makes Grit's offense an incredibly effective tool and was a huge asset to the team in 2009.

 

Moeller Award (Most Valuable Overall Player) - Kevin Richardson, selected to recognize his contributions to the team as a whole.  Not only did K-Rich mold Grit into an elite team, he did it through making his teammates better players.  While he certainly could win this award solely on the basis of his talent and athleticism, he deserves this award because of what he did for his team in games and in practice.  

 

Correll Award (Spirit Award) - Bill Sumrow, selected to recognize his enthusiasm for the game and dedication to the team.  No one puts in as much work to improve as a player.  No one gets as excited to win as a team as Bill does.  He stays positive without loosing focus on winning or in adverse situations.  Several times, Bill could have caved and turned away from the team, but each challenge presented to him was an opportunity to improve.  Most importantly, he did his talking on the field.  When others would have used hollow words to motivate their teammates, Bill made play after play after play.

 

Congratulations to all of the 2009 award winners.