FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elliott Scott
2024 Women’s Sports Awards PROGRAM presented by Burns & McDonnell returns to Municipal Auditorium on January 30
KANSAS CITY, MO (January 24, 2024) – The 2024 Women’s Sports Awards celebration presented by Burns & McDonnell, an annual awards program, is WIN for KC’s biggest fundraiser and the largest luncheon in the country celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Six honorees will be recognized for their contributions to women and girls in sports within the Kansas City region.
This year’s event, which takes place in the historic Municipal Auditorium, kicks off by honoring local 2023 female high school state champions with their celebratory march across the stage. Then, throughout the luncheon, event attendees learn about the six honorees in the following categories: Children’s Mercy Kansas City Rising Star Award, Lockton Courage Award, Kissick Construction Game Changer Award, UMBFC Charitable Foundation Lifetime Sportswoman Award, Hallmark Cards Leadership Award and FORVIS BE BOLD Award. Finally, Alana Nichols, three-time paralympic gold medalist, will deliver an electrifying speech reflective of her challenges and triumphs in the world of sports.
Here are the 2024 Women’s Sports Awards honorees:
FORVIS BE BOLD Award – Big 12 Women’s Basketball Honorary Coaches Program
In 2001, a small group of women came together to create the Honorary Coaches program for the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament. This group bonded with visiting Big 12 women’s basketball programs and went out of its way to make those teams feel special and loved by the Kansas City community. During a period of 12 years, this group also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for WIN for KC.
Hallmark Cards Leadership Award – Kameryn Furman
Through Kameryn Furman’s leadership skills, synchronized ice skating has become a lifetime sport for athletes in the Kansas City area. Kameryn’s ability to create a rewarding environment with coaching that inspires her athletes has allowed KC MOMENTUM (formerly KC Illusion) to grow from just dozens of athletes five years ago to 98 members strong this year. Over the past two seasons, Kameryn’s adult and masters teams qualified for the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships and the masters team became National Medalists for the first time in program history.
Children’s Mercy Kansas City Rising Star Award – Brinley Hutson
In 2021, Brinley Hutson suffered what seemed to be a routine leg injury during a soccer tournament, followed by hitting her leg in that same spot a week later in a softball tournament. Within weeks, the injury required 18 surgeries resulting in a life-saving leg amputation. The 14-year-old freshman from Olathe East High School used her sheer love for the sport of softball to power through rehab and to find the best prosthetic leg for getting back behind the plate. Six months after her amputation, Brinley was back on the softball field, and two months after that she was behind the plate catching again. Her story is one of hope and perseverance, highlighted this past fall when she hit her first career grand slam.
Kissick Construction Game Changer Award – Kate Hwang
Nearly 20 years ago, Kate suffered a traumatic brain injury while working as a police officer for the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. And although she eventually became a detective, Kate medically retired from the force as a result of seizures and complications from her brain injury. After struggling to find a new career as fulfilling as her police work, she discovered adaptive sports. Kate went on to get her master’s degree and pivoted her career toward helping others experiencing trauma and disability. She is now an Adaptive Sports Manager at The Whole Person, a Cross-Fit coach and competes at the Endeavor Games for athletes with physical disabilities.
UMBFC Charitable Foundation Lifetime Sportswoman Award – Sandy Brown
A lifelong adventurer, Sandy is a 67-year-old triathlete whose accomplishments include running three Ironman races, all completed in her 60s, in addition to finishing 26 half Ironman races. In 2022, she accomplished an all-time goal by qualifying for and competing in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. In the Lawrence and Kansas City triathlon communities, Sandy is known for creating a safe and positive atmosphere for women to discover the sport through facilitating training sessions, providing coaching tips and raising awareness about local events and opportunities for participation.
Lockton Courage Award – Helen Ortiz Turley
Helen’s story is one of perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity. At the age of seventeen she made a harrowing journey from Guatemala to America, forced to leave behind her two-year-old son and family. The path to United States citizenship involved hard work at a variety of jobs, including months of unpaid labor in the strawberry fields of California. Helen later realized it was a human trafficking operation. She found fitness in her thirties and began to compete as a professional bodybuilder, but her career came to an abrupt halt when she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Never one to give up, Helen successfully beat the cancer and continues to compete in her fifties. Not only an impressive athlete and multiple gold medalist in the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation, she is also a successful businesswoman. Helen, two business partners and Dennis, her son, operate Carthage Commercial Real Estate brokered by KW Key Partners.
The 2024 Women’s Sports Awards presented by Burns & McDonnell will be on Tuesday, January 30th. For more information, please click here.
Media wishing to do advance or onsite interviews should email escott@sportkc.org to coordinate. Hi-res head shots of the award honorees, Alana Nichols and WIN for KC President and CEO Kathy Nelson are available here.
About WIN for KC
The Women’s Intersport Network for Kansas City (WIN for KC), was established in 1994 under the umbrella of the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission, with the mission to ignite girls and women through advocating and promoting the lifetime value of sports and fitness, while providing opportunities for participation and leadership development. WIN is a volunteer, membership-driven organization that operates as a program of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation. For more information, visit WINforKC.org. For the latest on WIN for KC news, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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