By Patrick Lynn
STEVENS POINT — The SPASH girls soccer team has earned national recognition for its sportsmanship after completing the 2026 season without a single player or coach receiving a yellow or red card.
The achievement earned the Panthers the Platinum Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award from the United Soccer Coaches, the world’s largest soccer coaches organization.
SPASH was one of just eight high school programs nationwide — and the only team in Wisconsin — to receive the platinum designation for the winter and spring high school seasons. The award is reserved for teams that complete an entire season without any player or coach being issued a yellow or red card.
The Panthers also captured the 2026 Wisconsin Valley Conference championship.
Overall, United Soccer Coaches recognized 47 high school teams across the country for demonstrating fair play, sportsmanship and adherence to the laws of the game.
The Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award is presented at four levels — platinum, gold, silver and bronze — based on the average number of yellow and red cards received by players and coaches per game. Platinum is awarded only to teams that finish the season with no cards at all.
SPASH previously earned silver-level recognition in 2025.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment for our program and a testament to the ideals of sportsmanship that our players demonstrate on a daily basis,” SPASH coach William Loss said. “To navigate an entire season without receiving a card is very rare. To do so while competing for — and ultimately winning — a conference championship makes it even more significant.”
Loss said the team’s conduct throughout the season reflected the values the program emphasizes every day.
“I am very proud of our girls and their commitment — win or lose — to doing things the right way,” he said. “They demonstrate tremendous respect for one another, our opponents and the officials who make the games possible.”