Athletic Dept. | 12/3/2014 1:36:00 PM

BLUEFIELD, Va. – Year after year, the NAIA recognizes its highest-achieving institutions relating to the organization's Champions of Character program; for the 2013-14 academic year, Bluefield College Athletics has once again received the designation of being a Five-Star Institution. For the first time, the program introduced a tiered system recognizing Gold, Silver and Bronze achievement, with BC landing in the Silver category thanks to a year-end score of 84 out of 100.
 
"This recognition speaks well of our athletics programs and our student athletes," remarked Bluefield President Dr. David Olive. "We take seriously our mission of preparing servant leaders, and our student athletes, along with other students, are very much engaged in serving others and strengthening our communities."
 
The vision of the Champions of Character program is to change the culture of sport. Its mission is to provide training to instill the values that build character so students, coaches and parents know, do and value the right thing on and off the field.
 
Every NAIA institution's and conference's progress in pursuing character education is tracked and recognized annually for achievements in training, promotion and conduct in competition.
 
The Champions of Character Scorecard measures commitment in five key areas: character training, conduct in competition, character recognition, academic focus and character promotion, with Gold (90-100 points), Silver (75-89 points) and Bronze levels (60-74 points) being awarded.
 
Only 12 institutions earned Gold distinction. Sixty were scored as Silver Institutions, while 96 fell in the Bronze category. Overall, Bluefield ranked tied for 27^th of the 168 institutions with its score of 84.
 
The Champions of Character program helps participants find the balance by keeping five core values: integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership – at the heart of the athletics experience.
 
The Appalachian Athletic Conference also earned distinction of being a Five-Star league. Bluefield ranked fifth out of the nine AAC teams represented on the Five-Star listing.
 
Bluefield has excelled in the Champions of Character program, especially in the recent years with head baseball coach Mike White earning the 2012 Coach of Character honor, men's soccer student-athlete Joey Waltz being named his sport's Champion of Character at the conference level in 2013 and Emily Smith being named to the 2014 AAC Volleyball Champions of Character team.
 
The program was launched by the NAIA in 2000.