WESTPORT, Conn. (April 10, 2023) – The Drake Group Education Fund, INC. revealed its 2023 National Award Winners where Howard University Director of Tennis and Director of Swimming & Diving Nicholas Askew won the Drake HERO Award. The announcement came Monday morning.
The Drake HERO Award honors an extraordinary individual who has helped advance the collegiate sports reform movement through persistent actions over time. The individual, through hard work and persistent effort, has created a significant impact within the world of sports reform and, in doing so, has enhanced the integrity of intercollegiate athletics.
In multiple capacities, Coach Askew has purposefully influenced the academic achievements and personal development of the individuals he has coached. His consistent youth sport program service has been extraordinary and his exemplary emphasis on the use of sport to teach athletes the critical life skills of leadership, accountability, discipline and patience has been nationally recognized. As important, these efforts have increased the number of Black and other athletes of color entering and participating from the entry to the elite levels of the participation pyramid in sports in which they are significantly underrepresented, thereby challenging stereotypes of the interests and abilities of Black athletes and other athletes of color.
His efforts have helped to demonstrate that Black athletes do have interest in and can achieve in sports like swimming, diving and tennis. The achievements of his teams have created public notoriety, thereby raising important questions about the failure of intercollegiate athletics to address the underrepresentation of Black athletes in 16 of 21 NCAA women’s championship sports and 15 of 19 NCAA men’s championship sports. His presence as a Division I head coach in swimming and tennis is equally significant because it advances public awareness about the underrepresentation of coaches of color in all college sports.
As one of only four Black head coaches in men’s swimming and five in women’s swimming among all three NCAA competitive divisions, and one of only 32 Black head coaches in men’s tennis and 37 in women’s tennis, among all three NCAA competitive divisions, he is an important role model for athletes of color and aspiring coaches of color following in his footsteps.
The Drake Group Education Fund, INC. will present to the winners Tuesday, April 18 at the Sack Symposium National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Source/Image: Howard Athletics Media Relations
