Congratulations to our six award winners for 2025! Read about past Yearly Award Winners on our Tour History page.
CJ Joseph and Keegan Shipe - Athletes of the Year
The 11th annual Athlete 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.
Honorable Mention
- Dylan Radziukinas – From Coach Coffey, “Dylan was probably our most reliable player on the court and made friends on the team she will probably have for life.”
- Dallas Rado – From Coach Attanasio, “He acted like an older brother and interacted with everyone on the bus. He walked into a room and you felt the joy and fun form him.”
- Brady Henchon – From Coach Averitt, “He brought the Costa Rican culture. He was a big-time athlete for us and a leader on the team.”
- Rysen Hooker
- Emma Parker
About CJ and Why He Was Chosen?
We first met CJ, who hails from Central Florida, in June of 2020 when he applied and interviewed. He was one of the first people to sign up for our first tour post-Covid. He’s now completed his 4th SAWUSA tour (’21, ’23, ’24, ’25). He’s featured on our website homepage and a lot of our marketing – because he perfectly embodies what our tours are all about. Coach Swinford had this to say about CJ, “In his fourth SAWUSA tour, CJ exemplified the perfect combination of veteran-like experience and newcomer excitement both on and off the court. From the very first team Zoom call, CJ made an effort to make sure teammates (and coach!) understood what was ahead on the trip while also making sure everyone gelled and helped drum up excitement by sharing his past experiences. While on the trip, he took on each excursion like it was brand new to him and consistently encouraged those around him to try new things, engage in the local culture, and made sure he included his teammates and those from the U17 boys team. He showed spurts of dominance on the court and helped lead the u23 team to the gold at the Portugal Basketball Festival. As a member of the 2024 U23 team that also won gold, his team-first and ‘USA’ driven mindset helped him capture his second title.”
About Keegan and Why He Was Chosen?
Keegan is from Virginia and a Senior at the University of Mary Washington. We often get age gaps on our teams and sometimes people don’t handle those too well. Before the tour we told Keegan he would likely be older than many of the other athletes and would need to be more of a leader. He did exactly that. Coach Rogers had this to say, “He was a true leader. He was probably the best player and teammate in the tournament. Being the oldest, he made sure to spend time with everyone and was always willing to help anyone.” Coach Nowell added, “Keegan was a tremendous young man and a leader of both teams. Overall he represented SAWUSA the right way both off the field and on it.”
Michael Bothell and Felecia Brown - Guests of the Year
The 11th 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.
Honorable Mention
- Tammy Walz – From Coach Coffey, “She helped with the live stream and was extremely helpful and accommodating.”
- Tara Morin, CurtisTrost, Carla Trost – From Coach Coffey, “They did a great job of taking care of athletes without parents and they had a positive attitude all trip.”
- Harvey Scott – From Coach Attanasio, “He was the police chief, a ball buster, and very interactive. He socialized with everyone on tour and was always helping others.”
- Curtis Braswell – From Coach Nowell, “He was the team equipment manager. He helped the team with a drill, screws, hammer, whatever it was he had everything to help the kids with sticks, water, etc. He was super supportive of both teams with whatever was needed. He got along well with everyone on tour.”
- Pam Braswell – From Coach Rogers, “She got along well with everyone and cheered for all the teams.”
- Howard Hawkins
- Brooke Losey
- Harvey Scott
About Michael and Why He Was Chosen?
Michael is the father of Brianna Bothell from Long Island, New York. He was nominated by both coaches on the Costa Rica tour with him, by portraying a trait we love to see in parents – ‘going with the flow’, or as they say in Costa Rica, ‘Pura Vida’. Coach Averitt had this to say about Michael, “He was the life of the trip. He always made sure everyone around him was having a great time. He was super passionate about the games and embodies the ‘Pura Vida’ culture of Costa Rica so much you thought he lived there. Coach Whitfield agreed, “Michael fully embodied the ‘Pura Vida’ spirit. He blended right in with the local vibe and brought so much energy to the trip. His storytelling kelt everyone engaged and his fun and uplifting attitude made sure everyone around him was smiling and having a blast.”
About Felecia and Why She Was Chosen?
Felecia is the mother of Joseph Brown from Charleston, South Carolina. She was nominated by the two other coaches on the Portugal Basketball Festival Tour that were not her son’s coach. Everyone cheers for THEIR kid and some at least cheer for their kids team – but Felecia was in the team pictures of the other two teams on tour – that’s awesome! From Coach Swinford, “Felicia stands out with her ‘never met a stranger’ mindset as she took an interest in not just the athletes on the team her son was on, but also those on the other two teams on the tour. She made an effort with other parents, helped any way that she could, and had a go-with-the-flow approach that rubbed off nicely with others. When her son Joseph was playing you could find her (or maybe hear her first) both cheering the team on to victory while also recording the games so the athletes could have the memories and share the highlights with family and friends back home. When Joseph wasn’t playing, she was likely delivering a pre-game pump-up speech to the u23 athletes, giving encouragement to the u17 girls team in the form of a ‘heart of the lion’ speech, or filming TikToks with group of athletes and keeping the mood all-around light.” Coach Coffey added, “She gave multiple of our team’s motivational speeches. My team was 0-3 before her speech and 3-1 after.”
Brandon Averitt and Patrick Coffey - Coaches of the Year
The 11th 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.
NOTE: This is an award that can only be won one time. So our awesome alumni Coaches are not eligible.
Honorable Mention
- Emmett Whitfield – From Coach Averitt, “He brought these girls together and they had the times of their lives. He kept their spirits when they were losing.”
- Alex Chis-Luca
- Nick Attanasio
- Kedric Bartsch
- Ryan Nowell
- Ray Edwards
- San Swindord (not eligible)
- Frank Rogers (not eligible)
About Patrick and Why He Was Chosen?
Patrick Coffey is the Assistant Coach at College of San Mateo (CA). While this was his first tour with SAWUSA he was instrumental in our athlete nomination process in preparation for the tour. He was an excellent communicator with SAWUSA staff. On tour, he was just as impressive. Coach Sam Swinford had this to say about Coach Coffey, “Despite the Portugal Basketball Festival trip being his first SAWUSA tour, Coach Pat Coffey carried himself like a vet and made the trip run smoothly for those around him. A good coach always makes for a good trip, and I am confident that his athletes left with positive experiences and lifelong memories thanks to Pat’s attention to detail, well-planned communication, and inability to ever be rattled on even the busiest (and hottest) days. As a bonus, his girlfriend Micaela was always ready to jump in and help as needed and together they made a great team that ensured that his travelers and families could enjoy the trip and be sure of ‘what’s next’ each day.
About Brandon and Why He Was Chosen?
Coach Averitt is an Assistant Coach at Chaffey College (CA). There is only one person with a longer history with SAWUSA and that’s me (the owner). Brandon was a SAWUSA athlete in Summer 2016, our second summer of tours. He coached last summer for us and now in his second summer we elevated him to a Trip Coordinator position. He assisted us some in athlete nominations prior to the tour and was a great communicator on tour.