GREENVILLE, S.C. – The National Christian College Athletic Association held their Annual Convention this week, where they announced their national awards for this past year and honored the award winners. During the Hall of Fame Banquet on Thursday evening, University of Northwestern athletic trainer
Hannah McCarrell was awarded this year's NCCAA Game Plan 4 LIFE Female Athletic Staff Character Award.
The award, given yearly to just one NCCAA-institution female athletics staff member in the nation, is a part of the Game Plan 4 LIFE Character Award series. The purpose of the GP4L awards are to recognize NCCAA student-athletes and athletics staff who epitomize the Christian character qualities of Love (I Corinthians 13), Integrity (Job 27:5), Faith (Hebrews 11), and Excellence (Philippians 4:8).
The first NCCAA Game Plan 4 LIFE Female Athletic Staff Character Award was awarded in 2013. In the
ten-year history of the award, McCarrell is the third Northwestern staff member to win the award and the second in as many years. Volleyball Head Coach
Beth Wilmeth earned the award first in
2016 and Softball Head Coach
Alicia du'Monceaux earned the
2021 award last year.
"Hannah demonstrates love by her words and actions," said Director of Athletics
Dr. Matt Hill. "Her athletes love her because of her demeanor and her demonstration of God's love for them when she prays with them when they are injured, or struggling in life, and for them in the future. She is the ultimate servant that all of us would like to have on our side and in our life. Many times she is here late at night writing rehab plans for her athletes, or meeting them at times that are best for them. She travels with the teams, not because she is required to but because she wants to."
"You would hear the word love around her a lot if you saw her with my women's soccer team," said Women's Soccer Head Coach
Josh Pettit. "Often when they leave, they say, 'Bye Hannah, thank you and I love you!' She shows our team, and any team she works with, love by how she listens to them and how she treats them. The athletes leave her office or training room knowing they were loved and that means a lot to athletes that are going through an injury or hard time."
"Hannah is uncompromising in putting the student-athlete's health first," said Coach Wilmeth. "She is able to manage the pressure of wanting her teams to compete and win at a high level, without doing so at the cost of a student-athlete's well-being. Her athletes highly respect and trust her decisions because of her integrity. Beyond wrapping ankles or helping rehab a student, Hannah encourages her athletes in their walk with Christ. She uses her role as an athletic trainer to invest in each student-athlete's life. Hannah doesn't clock in and clock out. She is available for her student-athletes whenever they need her because it flows out of who she is: a woman of God."
"Hannah is driven toward excellence with all of the teams she works with," said Women's Basketball Head Coach
Aaron Kahl. "She is dedicated to providing top notch athletic training care, working hard to get the athletes back out on the field of play. She is also dedicated to providing top nutrition and mental health information to our athletes as well as just meeting them where they are at each and every day."
