Past winners of the Award
Memorial Sportsmanship Trophy
Sportsmanship has been defined as “exhibiting the qualities and character of fairness, courtesy, and good temper, especially by one participating in a sport.”
Jamie Higgins possessed an unusual number of wonderful qualities for a young boy. He was hard working, extremely coachable, even-tempered, courteous, and above all, fair to those whom he played – teammates and opponents alike.
It is because of Jamie’s outstanding sportsmanship that the Casco Bay Soccer Club has established an annual sportsmanship award in his name.
Award Process
• This is a very meaningful award for the Higgins family, the soccer club, and the entire Cape Elizabeth community, and as such the President of the club will oversee all aspects of the process to ensure that it has been executed correctly.
• Each player on the U-14 team has one vote, the coaches collectively, have one vote, and every U-14 player is eligible to win.
• The registrar will provide the ballots
• Early in the season, U14 coaches meet with their players to summarize the
sportsmanship award and relay the following process:
o Each U14 boy will vote for one U14 boy
o Each U14 girl will vote for one U14 girl
o In years where there are multiple teams per gender, players may vote for only one player on either team
o The players should vote based on a player’s complete career within the club, not just the U14 season
o The criteria for the award are:
Sportsmanship (defined as exhibiting the qualities and character of fairness, courtesy, and good temper)
Hard working
Extremely coachable
Even-tempered
Courteous
Fair to opponents and teammates alike
o And players should be reminded:
It is not a vote for the most popular player
It is not a vote for the best soccer player
It is a vote for sportsmanship during the club season, on and off the field.
• All ballots are returned directly to the registrar, coaches do not look at the ballots.
• The award is presented at Recognition Night; all U-14 players should be present.
Past Winners of the Award:
2023:
2022:
2021:
2020:
The Jamie Higgins Award
Jamie Higgins was a 12-year old boy who was a part of the Cape Elizabeth Youth Soccer club, and played with his U-12 team at the Eastern Regional Championship in Niagara, NY on June 28-30, 1985.
Later that summer, Jamie was killed in a tragic bicycle accident. He would have competed with his friends in the U-14 Travel program in the fall of 1985. Jamie and his entire family made a significant impact upon the town in a very short time.
His loss was therefore a tremendous shock to the entire community but in particular to the travel soccer club and nautilus swim program (now CMA).
Jamie’s parents, Dr. Bud and Cheryl Higgins, realized the importance of these two programs to Jamie and requested in lieu of memorial flowers, contributions be made in Jamie’s name to either of these two organizations. As a result of the Higgins’ keen insight and the extreme generosity of their friends, each organization received over $4,000 in memorial donations.
At a board meeting in the fall of 1985, Casco Bay Soccer Club (Cape Elizabeth Youth Soccer at the time) decided to establish a Memorial Fund and to present an Annual Memorial Award to a member of the U-14 fall team. A trophy with the annual recipient’s name will be inscribed and on permanent display in the Middle School. Additionally, a replica will be awarded annually at the Soccer Recognition night.