West Virginia University Student-Athlete Averee Fields Recognized with the Haier Achievement Award

Averee Fields a senior forward co-Captain on the West Virginia University women’s basketball team, has been selected as a recipient of the Haier Achievement Award, which is presented to deserving student-athletes for their accomplishments beyond sports.  The announcement of the fifth of eight Haier Achievement Awards being presented this year was made by John Homlish, senior vice president, Digital Living Business Unit for Haier America, one of the world’s leading television and appliance manufacturers, and Doug Vance, Executive Director of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). 

“The Haier Achievement Award program brings to light those student-athletes who have achieved success beyond sports,” said Homlish. “By recognizing inspiring student-athletes like Averee we hope to further motivate other young people to achieve and succeed both on and off the field.  We commend Averee for using the platform of sports to help others.”

Fields, a graduate of Calloway County H.S. in Murray, KY, is majoring in Social Work with a minor in Psychology.  In the classroom she has earned a 3.95 GPA and been named to the Big 12 All-Academic First Team for the past two years and has been recognized as Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2012, 2013 and 2014.  She is also very active in her community, spending hundreds of volunteer hours with the special needs individuals at Stepping Stones.  She is also a frequent visitor to the WVU Ruby Memorial Children’s Hospital and hopes to be a foster parent later in life and mentor children who are less fortunate.  She has also been a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and been active with the WVU Child Learning Center and the West Virginia Alzheimer’s Association.  She plans to earn her Master’s Degree at WVU. 

On the court she has been a three-year starting forward for the Mountaineers and was named co-Captain this season.  This year, she is second on the team in scoring at 13.6 ppg and is second on the team in rebounding with 7.0 rpg.  Earlier this season, she set career highs with 23 points versus Mississippi State and 15 rebounds versus Seton Hall.

“I think it’s awesome that they have an award that recognized student-athletes,” said Fields.  “Being a student-athlete is difficult.  It’s hard to perform on the court, in the classroom and participate in extracurricular activities.  I would like to thank Coach Carey, my teammates and the entire WVU community for helping me achieve my goals.”

“This is a great honor for Averee,” said coach Mike Carey.  “She is the model student-athlete who works hard on the court, in the class room and in our community.  Averee is very deserving of this award and I’m extremely proud of her.”

Haier will officially recognize Fields with a plaque and certificate at an upcoming ceremony.  In addition, Haier will donate $2,000 to the West Virginia University general scholarship fund and award a Haier 48-inch LED HD television to the school’s athletic department.

The first four Haier Achievement Awards winners have are: Elisha Hande (North Carolina State University) - a three-year member of the women’s tennis team who maintains a 4.0 GPA with a major in economics and a minor in German and has been honored for her work in the community; JaCorey Shepherd (University of Kansas) - a football player that is active in the community through Big Brothers, Big Sisters and is a three-time Academic All-Big 12 Second Team honoree; Richie Suarez (Rowan University) - overcame a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Avascular Necrosis (AVN) by undergoing 40 months of treatment to prove the doctors wrong and take the mound for the Rowan baseball team for his junior and senior seasons; Alysssa Brandt (DeSales University) – a three-year member of the women’s soccer team and four-year track & field athlete has gone on medical missions to help the less fortunate in Haiti, Hondouras and Ghana since she was 15-years-old. 

Student-athletes from all sports, all schools, and all divisions are eligible for the Haier Achievement Award. Members of CoSIDA and fans can nominate student-athletes through March 1, at http://achieve.haieramerica.com.  Haier will announce eight (8) honorees throughout the year and in mid-March invite fans to vote online for the Haier Ultimate Achievement Award winner. The winner will earn his/her school a $5,000 donation to the general scholarship fund and a Haier 40-inch LED HD television. Additionally, all fans who vote will be entered into a drawing to win a Haier 48-inch LED HD TV.

ABOUT HAIER: Haier America (www.haier.com/us/) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Haier Group, the world’s No. 1 major appliance brand as ranked by Euromonitor International 2014, and a global leader in consumer electronics. Haier employs more than 70,000 people around the world and distributes products in more than 100 countries and regions with global revenues reaching $32.1 billion in 2013.

ABOUT CoSIDA: CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America, www.cosida.com) was founded in 1957 and is a 3,000-plus member national organization comprised of sports public relations, media relations and communications/information professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the U.S. and Canada. CoSIDA has two primary missions: 1) Assist communications and public relations professionals at all collegiate levels with professional development and continuing education, 2) Play a significant leadership and resource role within the overall collegiate athletics enterprise, thus helping other management groups and their respective memberships deal with the set of communications-based issues that is the most complex and challenging in history.