After the program launch was postponed last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Sports Academy is working with its education partners in the Philippines to resume a 100 percent online version of the institution’s renowned post-secondary, non-degree International Diploma in Sports Management (IDSM) program there. The sports management program – traditionally delivered onsite and in person by Academy faculty – has been on hold in the Philippines due to the pandemic. Now, the Academy hopes to deliver the program in an online environment starting this Spring. The Philippines Sports Commission (PSC) signed a Protocol for Cooperation with the Academy in 2017 that started the planning process for the sport education programs to be taught by the Academy there. The Academy has a long history in the Republic [...]

United States Sports Academy Art Committee member and Trustee Susan N. McCollough and committee chair Nancy Raia viewed for the first time a selection of original, one-of-a-kind pieces by renowned sport artist Ernie Barnes on display at the American Sport Art Museum & Archives (ASAMA) on the Academy campus. In 1984, Ernie Barnes was selected as the Academy’s first Sport Artist of the Year, following his work as the official Sport Artist for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.  In 2004, Barnes was again selected as the Sport Artist of the Year, making him one of only two sport artists to receive the Academy’s prestigious award twice. While visiting the Academy to accept his 2004 award, Barnes gave late Academy Founding President Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich an original, one-of-a-kind sketch [...]

American figure skaters Nathan Chen and Bradie Tennell won U.S. Figure Skating titles and earned the United States Sports Academy’s Athlete of the Month honors for January. Chen, the two-time Academy Male Athlete of the Year, won his fifth consecutive U.S. Figure Skating title after scoring 322.28 points in the event on 17 January 2021 in Las Vegas. Chen is the first man since Dick Button (1948-52) to win five at least consecutive U.S. championships. Tennell captured her second career U.S. Figure Skating title after scoring 232.61 total points in the event in Las Vegas on 15 January 2021. Tennell’s 79.40 points in the women’s short program broke her previous U.S. record set when she won the U.S. title in 2018. The second place finisher on the men’s side was [...]

The Academy congratulates the following graduates who completed their degrees this month. Because of the Academy’s rolling enrollments and flexible online learning options, degrees can be conferred upon graduates throughout the academic year. Doctoral Graduate Dr. Jose A. Ramos Jr. (McAllen, Texas) – Ed.D. Sports Management, Sports Medicine emphasis, Sports Leadership specialization, with honors Master’s Graduates Sherri L. Branscombe (Wasaga Beach, Ont.) – M.S.S. Sports Studies, with honors Trista M. Rybuck (Carberry, Man.) – M.S.S. Sports Studies

The United States Sports Academy extends condolences to 2002 Sport Artist of the Year Mina Papatheodorou Valyraki upon the untimely passing of her husband Sifis (Joe) Valyraki in Greece on Sunday, 24 January 2021. Academy Art Committee Chair Nancy Raia and Trustee Susan McCollough pose with Valyraki piece "Daphne and Apollo", on display in the Academy lobby. A longtime Greek government official and activist, Valyraki was Minister of Public Order, in charge of the security and intelligence services, from March 1995 to January 1996. Earlier, in the 1980s and 1990s, he was deputy Public Order Minister (1988-89 and 1994-95), Sports Minister (1985-88) and deputy Transport and Communications Minister (1981-84) in the governments of Andreas Papandreou. He also played a role in securing the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. [...]

The United States Sports Academy is mourning the loss of Dr. Lawrence Bestmann (far right), a longtime faculty member and friend of the institution, who passed away on 21 January, 2021. Bestmann was a member of the Academy’s first project in the island nation of Bahrain in 1977, where he served as national gymnastics coach and national strength and conditioning coach. He later returned to Bahrain as project director from 1984-87. In addition, Bestmann served the Academy’s international assignments as project director in Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2001, he returned again to Bahrain to serve as a visiting professor at the University of Bahrain for the winter semester. In addition to his international work for the Academy, Bestmann also served as director of recruitment and training, director of international programs, [...]