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Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize
Boston Globe Reporter wins Hechinger Grand Prize in EWA contest Bob Hohler wins for his series “Failing Our Athletes: The Sad State of Sports in Boston Public Schools” WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2010 – The Boston Globe’s Bob Hohler won the top prize in the National Awards for Education Reporting for his seven – part series “Failing Our Athletes: The Sad State of Sports in Boston Public Schools.” The Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize is given annually to journalists for distinguished education reporting and the announcement was made at EWA’s annual conference in San Francisco, Calif. Hohler, an investigative journalist for the Boston Globe sports section, spent a year exploring the plight of young, student athletes. His stories made an immediate impression on school, city and community leaders during the summer of 2009. Hohler described a system where student athletes were neglected on and off the field, finding Boston public schools spent a small fraction of money in comparison to what other reputable school systems devote to athletic programs. In addition, he discovered wide spread administrative deficiencies and lack of support for programs. In essence, he found a broken system and an issue mostly unknown to anyone outside of Boston high school sports. At one school, a baseball team held practices in a glass-littered alley; at another school a football team practiced on a makeshift field filled with man- holed covers; and in another instance, one team practiced on a field filled with waste causing players to nickname it the “toilet bowl.” Hohler also found some schools had no teams in popular sports, and in some cases some schools had no coaches to lead teams. Efforts to help athletes maintain academic requirements to participate in activities were negligent system wide. And most troubling is that Hohler discovered a class divide existed where the city’s most academically elite schools received more funding for athletic programs. Some Boston public school students already victims of urban violence told the journalist they felt further disenfranchised by their experiences on the playing field. As a result of Hohler’s reporting, more than $7.5 million has been pledged to rebuild athletics in the public school system of Boston over the next three years and academic mentoring efforts are being established. Businesses, universities and local sports teams have all promised to aid the Boston school system in its efforts. EWA contest judges described the series as “compelling.” “Bob took the series beyond the playing fields and explained clearly how the lack of funding in the Boston schools impacted students and academic interest,” said the judges. “ He showed why this mattered, beyond the ability just to play sports. And it appears that his work produced results.” Hohler's series has also won the John Curly Center for Sports Journalism Award and the print category in the Sport Society’s True Heroes of Sport Award. Before his current reporting assignment Hohler covered the Boston Red Sox. The other contenders for EWA’s grand prize this year were Daniel de Vise and Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post; Blake Morrison, Peter Eisler, Anthony Debarros and Elizabeth Weise, USA Today; Susan A. Nielsen, Oregonian; and Drew Lindsay, Washingtonian. You can also see the other winners of the 2009 National Awards for Education Reporting.
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