Congratulations to our four award winners for 2023! Read about past Yearly Award Winners on our Tour History page.
Tony Bradley - Athlete of the Year
Runner Up honors here goes to Brian Brown on our Costa Rica Adventure tour. Brian was called by his coaches as a… “super nice kid, very respectful, team player, positive, and extremely talented and just a great young man”.
Congrats to Tony Bradley, from Harker Heights, TX on being named the 2023 Athlete of the Year.
The 9th annual STUDENTathlete of the Year award is our highest honor given to our travelers. This traveler demonstrates athletic success in International competition. But that’s just part of the story. This traveler also appreciates the culture and diversity of the different places we visit. They display awesome patriotism and interact positively with our new International friends and make a strong positive impression about America! They demonstrate leadership throughout the trip with their teammates and coaches. READ MORE HERE.
Lorie Khalil and Sam Swinford - Coach of the Year (Tie)
We had to award our first ever tie in this category simply because we could not see NOT making one of these two coaches our Coach of the Year. Both coaches were in their THIRD tour with SAWUSA and they were more than worthy in past years – so it was impossible not to call it a tie :).
Congrats to Lorie Khalil and Sam Swinford on being named the 2023 Coach(es) of the Year.
Coach Khalil served as the Tour Coordinator and Womens Basketball Coach for our Costa Rica Adventure tour. Previously she coached with SAWUSA in 2022 (Argentina Experience) and 2021 (Portugal Basketball Festival)
SaW President Tim Ryerson had this to say about Coach Khalil, “If we had to Frakenstein a perfect tour coach it would be her. She is a great communicator but also an amazingly fun personality on tour. I wanted to pick a head shot for her announcement but the team selfie seemed more appropriate. SAWUSA is a better company because we found her three years ago. She could have won this award each of the three tours she has done, and we are honored to be able to call her Coach of the Year!”
Coach Swinford also completed his third SAWUSA Tour, coaching the Mens Basketball team in the Argentina Experience. Previously he coached in 2022 (Costa Rica Adventure) and he was a SAWUSA athlete in 2018 (United World Games).
SaW President Tim Ryerson had this to say, “Coach Swinford is so deserving of this honor. Leading a SAWUSA tour is a challenging. He’s now led two tours and both were exceptional. He’s confident, a great communicator, and a great coach. I’ve continued to be impressed by him since I first met him. I’m honored he’s a part of SAWUSA and excited to name him our Coach of the Year!”
The 9th annual Coach of the Year award is our highest honor given to our travelers. The selection is based on; helpfulness in trip preparation, post-trip survey results from parents and athletes, commitment to team safety, commitment to trip morale, athletic competition success, and a commitment to well-being of our STUDENTathletes. READ MORE HERE.
Briana Oller - Guest of the Year
Runner-up here goes to Tahoney Anderson from the United World Games tour. In addition to being a great parent and traveler on tour she treated us with a pizza party!
Congrats to Briana Oller on being named the 2023 Guest of the Year.
Briana is the mother of Sami Oller, who played on our Womens Basketball team on our Costa Rica Adventure. Well, the BOTH played! Our Womens team needed some extra bodies, so Briana volunteered to relive the good old days and lace them up once more time.
Coach Khalil had this to say about Mrs. Oller, “Any mom who puts on a uniform AND scores AND gets her ear cut open and continues to play and was super positive all trip hands down deserves this award.”
The 9th annual Guest Traveler of the Year award is our highest honor given to our travelers. This ‘Trip Mom’ (or Dad) makes the trip better for all travelers. They are great at ‘going with the flow’ and handling the ups and downs of International group travel. During the trip they help the SaWUSA staff care for each traveler by going above and beyond to assist other travelers, especially those traveling without parents. Most importantly, they make the trip more enjoyable just by being along for the ride. READ MORE HERE