USA Badminton’s Shannon Pohl was unveiled as a one of three finalists for the United States Olympic Committee’s 2012 Developmental Coach of the Year Award. This was the only  time a badminton coach has been selected as a finalist for this award. Finalists were selected in five categories, including National Coach of the Year, Paralympic National Coach of the Year, Developmental Coach of the Year, Volunteer Coach of the Year and the Doc Councilman Science Award. The Developmental Coach of the Year Award is presented to a coach at a youth club, high school or junior level, or a coach who is directly responsible for training athletes to reach the junior and/or elite level. Read USA Badminton’s article here!

Shannon’s dedication to the sport of badminton earned her a trip to the 2013 National Coaching Conference in Colorado Springs, where all five USOC award recipients will be announced during an awards dinner.. Shannon also spoke on a panel at the conference on the subject of athlete development. Hosted by the USOC in association with the NCAA, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and National Association for Sport and Physical Education, the annual conference focuses on enhancing coaching knowledge and disseminating the latest research, trends and innovations in order to develop beginner to elite athletes for optimum performance.

U.S. Olympic and Pan American sports organizations selected their 2012 Coaches of the Year as part of the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Program. The finalists in each category were chosen by a panel of coaching and sport education professionals. More information on all 2012 finalists can be found in the U.S. Olympic Committee’s press release.