For the seventh year in a row, the Detroit Area Honda dealers presented the Detroit High School Sports Awards and awarded the Honda Inspiration Award. This year, the award went to Paul Ellis, the swimming and diving coach at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood High School. The purpose of this award is to recognize coaches, teachers, and adults who make a positive impact on the lives of student-athletes on a daily basis.
Students were asked to nominate someone in their life who has consistently motivated them to work hard and make the right choices both on and off the field. Andrew Delzer, a student-athlete, nominated coach Ellis for the Inspiration Award. Delzer shared that Ellis’s encouragement, humility, strong work ethic, and belief in the team boosted his confidence and that of his teammates. Thanks to Ellis’s commitment to the swimmers and the program, they had their most successful season in school history.
Delzer admired Ellis’s confidence, enthusiasm, and precision on a daily basis while coaching the team. He also valued Ellis’s ability to bring together a diverse group of swimmers with varying abilities and backgrounds, allowing them to thrive in any environment. Although Delzer no longer swims for Ellis, he sees him as a friend and cherishes their ongoing relationship.
The Detroit High School Sports Awards took place at The Fillmore on Tuesday night and honored over 300 student-athletes from the Detroit Metro area and surrounding counties. The event was produced in partnership with the U.S. Army.
