Dakota Nering and Jayda Steele Nominated for 2021 OEC NevCo Character Champion Award

CYPRESS, CA - The Orange Empire Conference (OEC) has nominated Cypress College men's soccer, Dakota Nering, and women's tennis athlete, Jayda Steele, as the recipients for the 2021 Nevco Character Champion Award.

Each year, the OEC names one male and one female student-athlete from each member of every OEC college to the Nevco Character Champion Team, while naming two top winners of the Nevco Character Championship Award. This award is given to the student-athletes who display the following values; sportsmanship, respect, caring, fairness, civility, honesty, integrity, and responsibility shown through a specific action, ideally directed toward an opponent during competition.

Dakota Nering is a sophomore from Buena Park, CA, and a current defensive back for the Chargers men's soccer team. He serves on Cypress' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and has committed to Hope University next year to play with the Royals in the NAIA.

1. What does it mean to you to be nominated as the NevCo Character Champion?

"It is a great honor for me to be nominated as the NevCo Character Champion. I would like to thank my coaches and the athletic staff at Cypress for helping me to receive this honor. They have given me the opportunities that I needed in order to grow as a person and be considered for this award. It means a great deal for me to be nominated because I drive for the best in everything I do whether that be athletically, academically, or just as a person in general. Although I don't need recognition, and I work hard with the goal of improving myself, it is always a great feeling to know that others around you notice your hard work and want to recognize you for that."

2. Why is it important to show sportsmanship, respect, and integrity to all of your opponents in competition?

"It is important to show sportsmanship, integrity, and respect because all humans deserve this treatment. It doesn't matter whether they are your opponents or not. Things can get heated during games and tempers can fly but we have to realize that everyone is on the field for the same reason. We all just want to give it our all and win, and being disrespectful or showing bad sportsmanship just doesn't have to be a part of that."

3. What is your greatest accomplishment as a Cypress Charger?

"My greatest accomplishment as a Cypress Charger is being named team captain for the men's soccer team. I did things such as showing leadership during our practices and pushing my teammates, I tried to make sure all my teammates were doing good during our break because of the pandemic and tried to keep everyone updated on team news and still feeling like a team in a time where we were all separated, and I put in extra work during the off-season with our trainer at Cypress Scott Tucker as well as doing separate training sessions with my friends. It is just great to know that the hard work was noticed by my coach and I was rewarded by being named a team captain and I really feel honored to be able to be a leader for my teammates."

 Jayda Steele is a freshman from Whittier, CA, and is a member of the women's tennis team. Jayda is a team rep for Cypress' SAAC along with Dakota Nering and an honor student.

1. What does it mean to you to be nominated as the NevCo Character Champion?

"To be nominated means that I have been doing everything right as far as showing up early, putting in the work, and lending a helping hand to a teammate when needed."

2. Why is it important to show sportsmanship, respect, and integrity to all of your opponents in competition?

"It's important to show sportsmanship because how you act will dictate the way the match will be played. As well as respecting your opponents because they may be going through the same struggles as you."

3. What is your greatest accomplishment as a Cypress Charger?

"My greatest accomplishment as a cypress charger is being able to compete as a number one for the cypress women's tennis team and as well as being an honor roll student."

OEC Character Champion Team:

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