VINTON–William Byrd High School has earned the prestigious “Stay in the Game” award from the Virginia High School League (VHSL). They were the only Roanoke County school to receive the award and one of only seven teams in the 4A West Region.
William Byrd Athletic Director Jason Taylor says that the award is self-explanatory. “We had zero ejections for the entire 2015-2016 season. This includes coaches and players.”
“This is an award that we should be very proud to receive and strive to get every year,” said Taylor. “It represents the entire William Byrd Athletics Program.”
Taylor thanked each of the coaches at Byrd for “your hard work and dedication to our student athletes. Please thank your athletes and remind them to show great sportsmanship at each and every game.”
Taylor says that showing good sportsmanship is in the best interests of teams, because all have a better chance of winning if they keep players on the court and field.
At William Byrd, if you are ejected from a game, you must sit out the following game as well.
The VHSL says the “Stay in the Game” award is “given to the few high schools each year that manage to have a perfect sportsmanship and professionalism record.”
Statistics are recorded at each sporting event and reported to the VHSL.
![William Byrd High School has been awarded the "Stay in the Game" award from the VHSL for its record of good sportsmanship in 2015-2016 when no athletes or coaches were ejected from any sports events. Some of last year's coaches were (front row left to right) Allison Thornton (varsity volleyball and girls' junior varsity basketball), Molly Deacon (junior varsity volleyball and soccer), Dee-Anne Dillon (cheerleading), Krista Martin (swimming), Meghan Alterio (cheerleading), and Mike Bass (cheerleading); and (back row left to right), Kevin Tuck (basketball and golf), Patrick Elwell (tennis), Eric Royal (cross country, track and field), Brad Greenway (girls' basketball and baseball), Thomas Kessler (wrestling and football), Athletic Director Jason Taylor, and Brian Butler (track).](http://ourvalley.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Stay-in-the-Game-photo-1-resized-300x185.jpg)
![Few schools are able to earn the "Stay in the Game" award. WBHS is the only school in Roanoke County to receive the distinction and one of seven in the 4A West Region.](http://ourvalley.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Stay-in-the-game-photo-2-resized-255x300.jpg)