UMass Boston

Each year the Division of Athletics and Recreation hosts an annual awards banquet known as the UMBY’s. The UMBY’s serves as a culminating ceremony to celebrate our athletics department while also allowing everyone to come together as a community at the end of the academic year. Specific student-athletes are honored for their contributions to the Division both on and off their respective playing field. Coaches and administrators are surveyed for well thought out nominations for each major award. Then, an awards committee is formed by the Vice Chancellor of Athletics and Recreation (VCAR) to vote on these major award winners prior to the event. All award winners are given final approval by the VCAR before the UMBY’s. The major awards are as follows:  

• Distinguished Athletic Director Award – Presented annually to a male and female recipient  

• William Puerto Unsung Hero Award – Presented annually to a male and female recipient   

• Athlete of the Year – Presented annually to a male and female recipient  

• Rookie of the Year – Presented annually to a male and female recipient  

• Beyond the Beacon Humanitarian Award – Not given annually, only in special cases is this award presented, as determined by the VCAR and awards committee  

• Team of the Year (Male and Female)   

• Coach of the Year (Male and Female)   

General UMBY’s timeline of events:  

• Mid-March - Introduce & assemble awards committee, review the charge of the committee, voting processes, nomination forms, and timeline  

• Late March – Assistant AD for Sports Communications emails staff, coaches, and administrators links to nomination forms   

• 2nd week of April – All nominations are due  

• 2nd week of April – Sports Communication office will add necessary statistics to the nominations and then send nominations to the committee  

• 3rd week of April – Committee meets to discuss nominees and vote for award winners  

• 3rd week of April – Final votes are shared with VCAR and Deputy AD’s for review  

• 3rd week of April – Upon confirmation from the VCAR/Deputy AD’s, Sports Communications office orders the awards from Trophy Depot  

• 1st week of May – Presentation of awards at the UMBY’s ceremony  

Committee Roster:  

• Deputy Athletic Director for Strategic Advancement  

• Deputy Athletic Director for Internal Administration/SWA  

• Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance & Student-Athlete Development  

• Athletic Trainer  

• Head Coach (male and female representative)  

• Assistant AD for Sports Communications  

Committee Responsibility:  

• The committee is responsible for reviewing all nominations and ranking nominees prior to the meetings to ensure productive discussion  

• The committee has the authority to add nominees if they deem necessary.   

Key Points:   

• Each coach is required to acknowledge the form via the link even if they do not have a nominee