(Kansas City, MO) – The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has selected Mayville State University (Mayville, ND) Head Coach Scott Berry as the recipient of the 2011 Jerry Kindall Character in Coaching Award. Berry will receive his award during the FCA Baseball Breakfast held Saturday, January 7 at the American Baseball Coaches Convention in Anaheim, CA.
Berry has led Mayville State University’s baseball program since 1982. In his 30 years as head coach, Berry has accumulated an impressive 826-478 career record, which places him among the top winningest coaches in NAIA baseball. Berry’s teams are a dominant presence in the Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) by winning 21 conference championships, 18 conference playoff championships and tallied 21 appearances in the NAIA national playoffs.
Coach Berry has also accumulated several personal awards and recognitions. He has been inducted into four Hall of Fames, including: Mayville State University Athletic Hall of Fame (1996), NAIA Hall of Fame for Baseball (2002), North Dakota Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame (2003), and the Christian Sports Commission Hall of Fame (2009). He’s also tallied 11 different NAIA District 12 Coach of the Year honors and 19 conference coach of the year awards, been awarded the NAIA Great Plains and Region 3 Coach of the Year, received the North Dakota Associated Press Sportswriters and Sportscasters “Special Achievement Award,” and the NAIA Robert E. Smith Achievement Award among many others.
“I have known Scott personally for over 25 years and can readily testify that he is an exceptional godly man,” said FCA Baseball Leadership Board Chairman, Dave Altopp, adding that “his faith was never more clearly demonstrated than during his wife’s recent losing battle with cancer.” One of Scott’s former players, Mark Andresen, wrote in his letter of recommendation for the Kindall Award that “Coach Berry has touched the lives of numerous people and continues to be a ‘rock’ even as he struggles with the realities of life.” Andresen further commented that in “losing the love of his life, Coach Berry relied on his faith, his immediate family, and his baseball family to help provide support in dealing with this loss.” His immediate family includes a daughter and three sons, all of whom have played for him at Mayville State.
A native of LaMoure, N.D., Berry played college baseball for the Mayville State Comets under legendary coach Al Meyer. After graduating he went on to coach teams in Ellendale, Binford, Rolla and Casselton (ND) before returning to Mayville in 1981 as Coach Meyer’s assistant. He then took the program’s helm in 1982.
Named after Jerry Kindall, former major league player and retired head coach at the University of Arizona, the Character in Coaching Award is presented annually to the college or high school baseball coach who best exemplifies the Christian principles of Character, Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork and Service on and off the baseball field. Coach Kindall was the honorary first recipient of the award at the 2006 FCA Baseball Breakfast.
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