Goshen College athletes, coaches and athletic department staff gathered at the John S. Umble Center on Sunday for the Leafys, GC’s annual sports awards show. There were 14 awards up for grabs including athlete of the year, rookie of the year and coach of the year.

The master of ceremonies for the show was Jason Samuel, head disc golf coach. During his opening speech he congratulated student athletes on their work both in the classroom and on the playing field. Before the first awards were announced, Samuel gave some words of encouragement for the upcoming season.

Throughout the night, GC’s tennis program won five awards, men’s cross-country won four, softball won two with women’s volleyball and women’s soccer bringing home one award apiece. Dan Schrock ’81 was awarded fan of the year. After the awards were distributed Samuel dismissed the crowd, inviting them for refreshments in the Fellowship Hall of the Church-Chapel.

The general consensus from those in attendance was that the Leafys represented an opportunity to reflect on the previous year’s endeavours, with athletes appreciating the chance to celebrate their peers’ accomplishments. Dwight Gingerich, athletic director and head men’s basketball coach was impressed by the occasion.

“It was pretty amazing,” Gingerich said. “It’s neat to see all the student-athletes together in one big room celebrating something together.”

Despite being a student at GC, Kate Bodiker ’26, assistant athletic director of communications and game day operations, had never attended the event before. Bodiker was pleased with this year’s event. “Genuinely, I just thought it was a really fun event. It’s a good reminder that in spite of the successes or losses we might be having at the time, of the good things that we have done in the past year,” she said.

Reflecting on the event, Gingerich had two personal highlights. The first was the detailed description of each award winner’s achievements that was read out by the presenter. This reminded Gingerich of what it takes to be a student athlete. Gingerich also highlighted the fan of the year nominees, due to all of the time and support they give to supporting GC athletics.

Bodiker noted the camaraderie amongst the tennis team, who, after going to the NAIA championship tournament with their women’s team, received the most awards on the night. “The presenter would get ready to go back to the podium to start explaining the person’s accomplishments and the team would be absolutely cheering from where they were sitting,” Bodiker said. “So, I was just particularly impressed with how loud they turned out for their teammates, since there are so few of them,”

As mentioned, the event was deemed by those in attendance as a success, however there were suggestions for what attendees would like to see in future renditions of the event. Maria Clara Fonte, who was awarded “Comeback player of the year,” suggested an award for the best team performance. Fonte also mentioned that “some background music after people get announced would fill some of that empty noise that sometimes would happen when people are walking up to the stage”

Similarly, Gingerich suggested recognition for “teams that make huge strides,” and that awards centered around team performance would be “really cool to see.” He also suggested that each team has a moment on the stage to get their picture taken and receive a round of applause from their peers

Bodiker would like to see some recognition for the GC students who attend games to support their peers. “I do think something that might be beneficial to the Leafys is to potentially divide the fan of the year category into a community fan of the year and a student fan of the year,” she said. “I just think that it’s really nice that students get recognized, especially with the time and effort that they put into attending games and being supportive for their peers, even though I obviously think it is still important to recognize those community people.”

“I would just say it was a huge success, and I think the athletic department as a whole is just really proud of our athletes,” Bodiker said.