By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
MIAMI | Valarie Lloyd, dean of students at Msgr. Edwad Pace High School in Miami Gardens, and moderator of all athletics in the Archdiocese of Miami, has been named a Play Like a Champion Coach of the Week.
The award was announced April 1, 2021 by Play Like a Champion Today, an independent non-profit "dedicated to providing leadership in a worldwide effort to change the culture of youth sports through education and consultancy."
Each week, the group celebrates coaches who "demonstrate a Champion approach to youth and high school sports, developing young athletes in virtue as well as skill," wrote Kristin Sheehan, program director for Play Like a Champion Today, in an email announcing the award.
A biography of Lloyd on the Play Like a Champion website says she has been a teacher and coach for 39 years, "dedicating her life to the service of children through the goodness of physical activity for wholistic development."
The website notes that Lloyd has led the expansion of Play Like a Champion training across all entities, beginning with youth coaches in 2017, all sports parents in 2018 and all high school coaches in 2019. She is currently working to pilot a physical education curriculum for all Miami middle school students in Fall 2021.
"Valarie is an absolute joy to work with," wrote Sheehan in her email to Donald Edwards, associate superintendent of schools for the archdiocese. "She is committed, hard-working, rooted in faith and motivated by her zeal to serve youth. We honor her for being an example for administrators everywhere as she exemplifies how to support the development of athletes not only physically, but socially, emotionally and morally."