Wilcox Lifetime Achievement Award

Longtime Benedictine Coach Honored by KC Sports Commission

Larry Wilcox, former head football coach at Benedictine College, will be honored with the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation’s first ever Lifetime Achievement Award in a virtual ceremony televised at 6:00 p.m. CDT on June 25, 2021, on KMCI 38, The Spot, in the Kansas City area or online at https://www.kshb.com/live2. The award, sponsored by T-Mobile, recognizes individuals who demonstrate sustained success throughout their career in amateur, high school, collegiate or professional sports and exemplify the positive aspects of sports.

(For those who do not have access to Channel 38, the ceremony will be rebroadcast in the Kansas City area on June 26, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. CDT, on KSHB 41. Saturday’s stream will be at https://www.kshb.com/live.)

Larry has seen a great deal of success in his 42 years of coaching at Benedictine. He took over as head football coach in 1979 and led the Ravens to eight Heart Championships and 14 NAIA Football Championship berths, reaching the national semifinals in 1992 and 2001 and the National Championship Game in 2018. He ended his tenure with a record of 304-154 and is one of only 13 college head football coaches at any level to achieve 300 victories.

Larry received the Kansas Monk Award from Benedictine College in 2007 and was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame and the Raven Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018. In addition, the football stadium on the college’s campus has been named in his honor.

Along with community leaders and sports executives, the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation has honored sports figures like Patrick Mahomes, KC Chiefs quarterback; Andy Reid, KC Chiefs head coach; Ned Yost, KC Royals manager; and Becky Sauerbrunn, Women’s National Soccer Team captain. Award winners are nominated by the general public and are selected by a committee consisting of sportswriters, broadcasters and local business leaders.

This year, Larry will be joined at the ceremony by Travis Kelce, KC Chiefs tight end, who will receive the Polsinelli Sportsman of the Year award. Terry English, head coach of the Bishop Miege High School Girls Basketball team, will receive the Burns & McDonnell Coach of the Year award. Kinsey Fiedler, shortstop for the Lee’s Summit North High School softball team, will receive the Spire Sportswoman of the Year award. Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, will receive the Children’s Mercy Community Champion award. And Mark Donovan, president of the Kansas City Chiefs, will receive the McCownGordon Construction Executive of the Year award.

Founded in 1966, the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation works to fulfill a mission to enhance the quality of life and economic success of Greater Kansas City by taking the lead in maintaining and selectively acquiring a diversity of amateur and professional sporting events; to collaborate with area economic development and agencies to attract and retain amateur and professional sports organizations; and to promote the lifetime benefits of sports for the citizens of Greater Kansas City.