Hines Ward to Present Award to Upper St. Clair Athlete

Upper St. Clair High School’s Corey Wilding has been voted western Pennsylvania’s “Most Positive High School Athlete” in the sport of boy’s golf by Positive Athlete, an organization created by former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward.

Wilding will be presented the award by Ward, along with 27 other winners representing a variety of boys and girls sports, in a ceremony at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum in downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday, April 20. WPXI Sports Anchor Rich Walsh and MSA Sports’ Don Rebel will serve as the Masters of Ceremony.

“This is the second year for the Positive High School Athlete Awards, and the stories of our nominees continue to amaze me,” said Ward.  “I was always credited with having a positive influence on my team during my days with the Steelers, but the stories I hear about kids like Corey really inspire me to be a better person.”

In addition to an awards’ certificate signed by Mr. Ward, Wilding a junior at Upper St. Clair, will take photos with the former Super Bowl MVP and receive an autographed Positive Athlete Dedication T-shirt.  

Positive Athlete Pittsburgh and the Positive High School Athlete Awards is in its second year and was created as a movement for more positivity in youth sports. In addition to excellence on the field, each participating Positive Athlete shares similar characteristics including an optimistic attitude, teammate encouragement, servant leadership, heart for others, ability to admit imperfections, giving 100 percent all the time, and realizing the team as more important than the individual. Over 170 nominations from 75 difference Western Pennsylvania high schools were made in the first of what will become an annual event.

“We did not put out a search for the best athletes in western Pennsylvania,” said Ward, “We put out a search for kids with positive attitudes whose efforts don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheets. These kids are also positive role models in their schools who get involved in charitable causes, and have already learned the meaning of giving back at an early age”.