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 - Posted February 16, 2017 -

A message to all coaches planning to come to the Jake Snyder Middle School Regatta:

At the Jake Snyder Middle School Regatta, after all the racing has taken place, we will announce the Jake Snyder Awards at a brief ceremony near the pavilion and launch dock.

The awards will be conferred on one girl and one boy from each middle school program participating at the regatta.

The awards are considered the regatta’s highest honor.

The girl and boy are to be selected by their coaches as having traits reminiscent of Jake Snyder, who led an exemplary life (summarized at the regatta’s “History” tab on regattacentral.com) before passing away at age 21. The purpose of this message is to give you guidance as to those traits.

First, we should state what the awards are not. They are not oarswoman or oarsman-of-the-year awards that focus solely on rowing ability.

Nor are they awards for effort or improvement over time at rowing.

Instead, they are meant to look to the whole person. They honor the following characteristics, which happen to coincide with those of the Scout law, which Jake fulfilled as an Eagle Scout. A Jake Snyder Award recipient should be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

Above all, however, the recipient should be someone who is unusually humble in light of his or her achievements (which may lie in sports, academics, or community service). He or she should be willing to help, prepared to serve, and ready with a cheerful spirit. He or she should be happy to put the interests of family, team, school, or community ahead of his or her own recognition.

Please come to the Jake Snyder Awards ceremony with your entire team. Please also be prepared, when called upon, to briefly announce the two winners on your team. The award recipients will each receive a fleur de lis pin and will be congratulated by Lisa and Jay Snyder, the parents of Jake Snyder.

We ask, however, that you please keep the identities of the winners secret – from the winners, their parents, their teammates, and everyone else – until the ceremony.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Jonathan Rich, Regatta Co-Director, at [email protected] or (407) 446-5367.

Thank you.

Jonathan Rich