American Athletic Conference Announces 2024 Inclusion Excellence Committee Awards

IRVING, Texas – American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco has announced the winners of the 2024 Inclusion Excellence Committee awards, including former Temple women’s lacrosse and field hockey coach Tina Sloan Green and South Florida men’s track and field student-athlete Michael Bourne III and South Florida’s Dr. Kevin Sneed.

The Inclusion Excellence Committee (formerly the Racial Equality Action Group) created awards to recognize the contributions of student-athletes, staff and other individuals related to the institution.

The Commissioner’s Annual Trailblazer Award is awarded to an individual who has a long-time history of inclusive behavior, local activism, commitment to diverse and inclusive practices within athletics/sport industries, have spoken out on behalf of the underserved or underrepresented, who have committed time, services and energy to embrace and uphold the tenets of diversity, equity and inclusion in their everyday lives and/or who have made innovate changes that positively affected athletics inclusion initiatives.

The American’s Together We Stand Awards will be awarded to one current student-athlete and one current institutional staff member that demonstrate excellence in advancing inclusion in their athletic department, at their institution and/or in their community. In addition to the conference Together We Stand awards, the nominees from the institutions will be recognized.

The winner of this year’s Commissioner’s Trailblazer Award is Tina Sloan Green, former women’s lacrosse and field hockey coach at Temple. She was the first African American coach in the history of women’s lacrosse and led the Owls to a pair of NCAA Championships in 1984 and 1988, one AIAW title in 1982 and 11 consecutive national semifinal appearances. She also broke the color barrier in the sport of field hockey, becoming the first African American player to compete on the U.S. National Team. She compiled a 207-62-4 record in 18 seasons as Temple’s women’s lacrosse coach (1975-92) and a 44-33-10 record coaching the Owls field hockey program from 1974-79. She also served as director of Temple University’s National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) for over a decade. She then went on to co-found the Black Women in Sport Foundation with Alpha Alexander, Nikki Franke, and Linda Greene in 1992 and is still active as the organization’s president. Sloan Green has been inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame (1994), US National Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1997), the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame (1999), Women Leaders in College Sports Lifetime Achievement Award (2008) and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame (2013).

The winner of our Together We Stand Award for a Staff Member is Dr. Kevin Sneed, the Dean of the USF Health Tanjea College of Pharmacy and Senior Associate Vice President of USF Health. Sneed was a co-director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core, which is a federally funded center with a focus on creating community and academic partnerships to reduce cancer disparities among racial/ethnic minorities and medically underserved populations. In addition, he directs a community initiative as WE-CARE to improve underserved communities’ participation in clinical research, as well as serving as a mentor to several South Florida student-athletes to provide guidance and real-life experience to aspiring pharmacists.

The winner of our Together We Stand Award for a Student-Athlete is Michael Bourne III, a men’s track and field student-athlete from South Florida. He is an active member of the USF Black Student Union as well as the Black Student Athlete Council that strives to eliminate racial disparities and improve outcomes for underrepresented communities. His community service outreach has included Tampa Bay’s MLK Day Parade, volunteering at Pizzo Elementary School and participating in “A Day in Green and Gold,” where South Florida hosts children from local Boys and Girls Club locations.

Institutional Nominees for Together We Stand Awards

Student-Athlete

Sydney Clarke – Women’s Tennis, UAB

Dazia Lawrence – Women’s Basketball, Charlotte

Mya Jones – Women’s Soccer, Memphis

Saylor Hawkins – Women’s Swimming and Diving, North Texas

Sahara Maruska – Volleyball, Rice

Michael Bourne III – Men’s Track and Field, South Florida

TK Pitts – Women’s Basketball, SMU

Sumaya Togba – Women’s Soccer, Temple

Kaia Todd – Women’s Track and Field, Tulane

Harry Barthelemy – Men’s Track and Field, Wichita State