Kentucky Wesleyan Coach Won Billie Jean King Award
Owensboro soccer coach Anne Stauffer was honored with the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award in 2024.
Updated on Oct. 10, 2026 in Soccer
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In 2024, Kentucky Wesleyan women's soccer assistant coach Anne Stauffer received the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award. The honor recognizes individuals who use sports as a vehicle for positive social change.
Why it matters
The award highlights Stauffer's efforts to bridge mental health service gaps for rural athletes. By integrating social work principles with her coaching, she provides vital support for student-athletes facing unique psychological challenges.
The award, presented by Penn Entertainment, reached its 10th anniversary in 2024. Stauffer maintains academic affiliations with the University of Kentucky's Sport Social Work Research Lab while balancing her coaching duties.
The players
Anne Stauffer
She serves as an assistant women's soccer coach at Kentucky Wesleyan and is an advocate for mental health in athletics.
Billie Jean King
She is a legendary professional tennis player and activist whose namesake award honors leadership in sports humanitarianism.
The details
Stauffer leverages her background as a former collegiate athlete at Transylvania University and Centre College, as well as a representative for U.S. Youth Futsal, to advocate for mental health awareness. Her work specifically targets the lack of mental health resources available to athletes living in rural communities.
Timeline
Anne Stauffer received the award in 2024.
Stauffer is scheduled to begin a Ph.D. program at the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2026.
Season Trajectory
Stauffer's recognition underscores the growing integration of clinical social work within collegiate athletic programs. Her work at the University of Kentucky's Sport Social Work Research Lab sets a precedent for how coaches can address the mental health needs of student-athletes.
Stauffer's focus on rural mental health advocacy provides a blueprint for how smaller institutions like Kentucky Wesleyan can better support their student-athletes. This approach helps ensure that athletes in isolated areas have access to the same resources as those at larger programs.
The takeaway
Advocacy in sports often requires combining personal athletic experience with specialized academic training to be effective. Readers can implement this lesson by seeking out interdisciplinary support systems when addressing community health gaps.
What happens next
Stauffer is slated to begin a Ph.D. program at the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2026.
Further reading
Learn more about the local sports landscape at Owensboro Soccer.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Ghanamma.
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