Congratulations to Penn State Mont Alto's Head Tennis Coach Alan Smith for being awarded The Robert J. Scannell Roll-of-Honor at the 2010-2011 Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) Awards Luncheon. This is the most prestigious award any administrator, faculty, staff member or coach can receive from the PSUAC.
The Robert J. Scannell Roll-of-Honor was proposed by the Council of Athletic Directors in 1991 and approved by the Dean of the College of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER). The award is named in honor of Robert J. Scannell, the former Dean of HPER and later the Vice President and Dean of the Commonwealth Education System. It was through the efforts and support of Dr. Scannell that the Athletic and Recreational programs were established at Penn State's commonwealth campuses. The award is presented annually to an administrator, faculty, staff member or coach who has served campus athletic, intramural and recreational programs with distinction.
1. Criteria
A candidate for nomination must be or have been an administrator, faculty, staff member or
coach who has served the University with distinction.
2. Procedures
a. Scannell Award nominees can be put forth by any member of the University associated
with Campus athletic, intramural, and recreational programs.
b. Written nomination must be submitted to the Chair of the Awards Committee by April 1 of
the spring semester.
c. Committee members must rate each candidate on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest
rating. The candidate with the highest rating will be granted the award.
d. Results of the Committee's work will be forwarded to Coordinator of Athletics.
3. Once the selection(s) have been made, the award will be presented at the PSUAC Annual
Awards Luncheon.
A Penn State alumnus, Coach Alan Smith has highly influenced Penn State Mont Alto Athletics. Smith has coached tennis at Penn State Mont Alto since 1983. Throughout the past twenty-seven years, Smith has had several undefeated championship teams and countless individual champions. He was named CCAC Coach of the Year in 1988, 1989, and 1990, and PSUAC Coach of the Year in 1992. Smith coached the only tennis player to move from a commonwealth campus to University Park to play tennis. David Schoenly started off at Penn State Mont Alto and then played #1 singles and doubles at University Park and advanced to the NCAA tournament twice. Smith has led more than fifty individuals to be champions as well as coached twelve players who started out playing out at Mont Alto and moved on to be recruited to play at Division I, II, and III schools. As a tennis player, Coach Smith has competed in United States Tennis Association (USTA) 4.5 local, regional, sectional, and national events. In 1996, Smith was an integral member of the Chambersburg 4.5 Men's team that finished 5th nationally out of approximately 10,000 teams. Coach Smith takes great pride in being the tennis coach at Penn State Mont Alto and is constantly striving to teach student-athletes to excel, while establishing a fun team atmosphere.
Coach Smith is one of four Mont Alto employees who have received the Scannell award. The others include Duane Thomas, the former Director of Athletics and Men's Basketball Coach, Rob Harner, former Women's Volleyball Coach, and Doug McCullough, who served as the PSUAC Faculty Athletic Representative. Penn State Mont Alto Athletics is proud to have these past and current employees nominated for and awarded the Robert J. Scannell Roll-of-Honor.
In photo left to right: Mark Sherburne Penn State Associate Athletic Director for Administration, Marty Ogle Penn State Mont Alto Director of Athletics, Alan Smith Mont Alto Head Tennis Coach, Ashley Jacobs Penn State Mont Alto Associate Director of Athletics, Tim Curley Penn State Director of Athletics
