The concept, conceived by Gerard Moynihan a quarter-century ago, has not changed: recognize high school students for academic as well as athletic accomplishments.
As one of the owners of the lumber company bearing his family’s name, Moynihan has been a 30-year supporter of high school sports on the North Shore, all the way back to sponsoring football broadcasts and the popular Saturday Scoreboard Show on WESX Radio.
A former sportswriter, Moynihan always appreciated the blanket coverage of scholastic sports by several local daily newspapers as well as WESX. He couldn’t help but wonder, however, about those players who may not make the headlines, but were stars in the classroom. Shouldn’t they have a chance to be in the spotlight?
Moynihan reached out to a few members of the local media and asked them if they would be willing to help him create a vehicle to honor student-athletes. The Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athlete of the Month program started in the fall of 1991 and it continues today. The Merrimack Valley Student-Athlete Award started in 2002.
“It is very gratifying to see this program endure and prosper,” Moynihan said. “We have had the pleasure of honoring hundreds of deserving young men and women throughout the North Shore and we look forward to honoring many more.”
Coaches and athletic directors are encouraged to nominate student-athletes monthly. One male and one female winner are selected by a group of local media members representing the Salem News, Daily Item, Gloucester Times, Newburyport Daily News and msonewsportsonline.com. The September winners will be announced in early October.
The monthly winners are eligible for the male and female Student-Athlete of the Year Award, which is presented, along with a $1,000 scholarship from Moynihan Lumber, at a luncheon in June.
Last year’s Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athletes of the Year were Sam Acquaviva of Newburyport, who is at MIT, and Tracy Wood of Gloucester, now attending the University of Vermont.
The caliber of the yearly winners serves as the best example of the merit of the program. The list includes: Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt (Peabody, 1992), former MassGolf Communications Director Becky Blaeser (Masconomet, 1994), Major League Baseball Senior Vice President Peter Woodfork (Swampscott, 1995), New York Marathon champion and three-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan (Marblehead, 1999 and 2000), former major leaguer Matt Antonelli (St. John’s Prep, 2003), pro hockey player Colin Blackwell (St. John’s Prep, 2011), and Providence College cross country All-America Catarina Rocha (Peabody, 2012 and 2013).
“We take great pride in the accomplishments of our honorees,” Moynihan said. “It is a wonderful group of young men and women who exemplify what being a true student-athlete is all about.”