On National Girls & Women in Sports Day, WeCOACH announced five recipients of the 2024-25 Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Jostens, and the late, legendary Pat Summitt is one of those chosen for the honor.
The prestigious WeCOACH Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to women in sports who succeed at the highest levels in their respective careers, while also displaying an unwavering commitment, pioneering spirit, and trailblazing leadership to empower and pave the way for girls and women in all sports and levels to breakthrough for many generations to come. This year’s class boasts over 200 years of coaching experience (and counting), over 5,000 wins, and over 50 national & state championships.
Summitt was selected along with Jan Hutchinson, Bloomsburg University head field hockey & softball coach (retired); Carmen Jackson, Miami Northwestern Senior High School head track & field coach; Dr. Ann Lebedeff, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges emerita professor of physical education & head tennis coach (retired); and Tara VanDerveer, Stanford University head women’s basketball coach (retired).
“The Lifetime Achievement Award honors those who have not only excelled in their field but have also paved the way for future generations of leaders. This year’s winners are true pioneers—individuals whose advocacy for women in coaching has broken barriers, records and created lasting change. Their unwavering dedication to excellence, empowerment, and inclusion is a beacon of inspiration. We are proud to celebrate their extraordinary contributions and the legacy they continue to build. WeCOACH could not be more thrilled to bestow upon them our highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award,” said WeCOACH CEO Vanessa Fuchs.
Past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Jill Ellis, Muffet McGraw, Violet Palmer, Dr. Nikki Franke, Carol Hutchins, Jodi Manore, Missy Foote, Dr. Christine Grant, Bev Kearney, C. Vivian Stringer and Sister Lynn Winsor. The 2024-25 honorees will receive their custom-designed awards by Jostens on May 19 in Denver, Colorado in conjunction with the WeCOACH-NCAA Women Coaches Academies. To learn more about the WeCOACH Lifetime Achievement Awards presented by Jostens, click here.
A coach whose accolades and legacy precede her, Summitt became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball history with 1,098 career wins, a record she held at the time of her retirement in 2012. During her 38-year tenure leading the Lady Vol Basketball dynasty, she won eight NCAA Championships, posted five runner-up finishes and led her teams to a combined 32 Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament championships.
Tennessee made an unprecedented 31 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament and boasted 14 Olympic Team members, 34 WNBA players, 21 WBCA/Kodak/State Farm All-Americans earning 36 honors, and 39 All-SEC players earning 82 recognitions.
Along with the success on the court, Summitt’s student-athletes had tremendous productivity in the classroom. Summitt held a 100-percent graduation rate for all Lady Vols who completed their eligibility at Tennessee. A total of 62 players mentored by Summitt in the UT program went on to basketball coaching or administrative positions. Her incredible body of work earned her Naismith Women’s Collegiate Coach of the Century for the 1900s, National Coach of the Year honors eight times, SEC Coach of the Year eight times, along with induction into numerous halls of fame, including the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Following her 2011 diagnosis of early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type, she devoted her time to raising awareness worldwide about Alzheimer’s disease through the Pat Summitt Foundation. The valor Summitt demonstrated while facing her toughest foe earned her even greater admiration than she had attained as a hall of fame coach. President Barack Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. As a coach, mentor, mother-figure, ambassador, trailblazer and role model, Pat Summitt was a living torchbearer. Hers is a light that also cannot be extinguished. Read more about Coach Summitt here.
