About The Musial Awards®
Out of the heartland of America, a unique and important tradition of celebrating extraordinary sportsmanship has been established. Since 2005, the nation’s best sports have come together in St. Louis for the Musial Awards, the most important awards in sports.
Named for Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial, the Musial Awards recognize the year’s greatest moments of sportsmanship and honor those in sports who embody class and character.
Recipients of the Musial Award include Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley; Baseball slugger Albert Pujols; golf legend Arnold Palmer; “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky; Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee; Baseball Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Joe Torre, Cal Ripken Jr., and Jim Thome; Olympic gymnastics legends Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci; MLB record-setting pitcher Adam Wainwright; NFL Pro Bowler Warrick Dunn; Basketball Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings; NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace; Major League Baseball MVP Bryce Harper; Loyola University Basketball Chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt; pro tennis player Madison Keys; Super Bowl champion Laurent Duvernay-Tardif; Little League World Series sensation Mo’ne Davis; Olympic distance runner Abbey D’Agostino; sportscaster Ernie Johnson; Scripps National Spelling Bee champion Zaila Avant-garde; and many others recognized for extraordinary displays of sportsmanship that represent the best in sports and humanity.
This one-of-a-kind national event takes place annually the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the historic 3,000-seat Stifel Theatre in Downtown St. Louis. The show is produced by the St. Louis Sports Commission and the National Sportsmanship Foundation, a charitable nonprofit organization. In addition to keeping Stan The Man’s legacy alive, the mission of the Musial Awards is to encourage kindness, integrity and civility in sports and society – and to inspire people across the nation to be good sports.
The roots of the Musial Awards go back to 1999 when the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance launched an awards program recognizing character in sport. In 2005, the event moved to St. Louis. A year later it was renamed the National Sportsmanship Awards. In 2012, with the blessing of the Musial family, organizers announced the event and its awards would be named in honor of the St. Louis hero and Cardinals legend – one of the greatest players in baseball history and the ultimate good sport. Defined by class, excellence, humility and generosity, Stan Musial personified sportsmanship. It’s fitting that the award recognizing extraordinary sportsmanship is named in his honor.
Since 2011, Maryville University has served as the presenting sponsor of the Musial Awards. The school’s involvement, leadership and generosity have helped make the show one of the great nights in all of sports.
PRODUCERS OF THE SHOW
The Musial Awards® is produced by the St. Louis Sports Commission and the National Sportsmanship Foundation®, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The Sportsmanship Foundation is a national movement based in St. Louis aiming to empower people to lead healthier, happier lives through the values of sportsmanship.