CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Mid-South Conference football officials announced that Campbellsville's
John Chewning earned one of four Champions of Character awards that were released this week.
Chewning has a 3.64 GPA, received MSC Academic honors three times, and was named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete twice in his career. Chewning was named a 2018 Kentucky Hall of Fame Blanton Collier Leading with Character award recipient and is a team leader for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Campbellsville.
On the field, Chewning started in 10 games on the offensive line this season and is a two-year captain for the Tigers. He was recently named an NCCAA All-American by the coaches.
"John is a young man that is very dedicated to being a Christian leader and sharing his faith," said head coach
Perry Thomas. "Away from football, he is an FCA leader and has participated in many mission trips without the athletics department.
"John not only balances his on the field performance and servant leadership responsibilities, but he's also a stand-out student-athlete in the classroom. In addition to his conference accolades, he's been named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete and CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree in 2017. Congratulations to John on this accomplishment."
In addition to Chewning, University of the Cumberlands' Cameron Baxley, University of Pikeville's Braxton Whitmore and Southeastern University's Dustin Peebles also earned the award for their respective MSC divisions.
These students earned the champions of character award based on their academic and athletic achievement, campus and community leadership, future ambition and demonstration of the five core character values of the NAIA.
In coordination with the MSC's Champions of Character initiative, Chewning was asked to answer the following question: How have you displayed the five core character values (Respect, Integrity, Responsibility, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship) and how will these values help you with your future ambitions in mind?
"There have been numerous accounts I can recall where these five core character values have come into play in my life," said Chewning. "The first being respect. I was fortunate to be raised in a very good Christian home where I was taught from a very young age to always respect others. I carry this with me every day in class, on the field in practice/games and out in the community. Respect is one value that I intend to use in my future classroom when I begin my teaching career and with my players once I start coaching. Integrity is the next value and it is one I feel strongly defines who I am as a person. Working through FCA the past two summers has really shown me that they not only trust me, but also know that I have strong integrity and will be completely honest with them about my faith and everyday life.
"Responsibility is a crucial core value that is extremely important in my life. Being a college athlete is hard with the long days and meetings, weights, classes and practices, but also doing your assignments for class, working a job, and still finding time for a social life. Being on top of my game in every aspect can only be accredited to holding myself responsible and accountable for my actions.
"Servant Leadership is a term we hear often on campus. I take great pride in serving others and I'm thankful for a university that allows me to do so. I have the opportunity to serve in the mission field though Sports Reach Prison Ministry, working local schools Track and Field Days, reading to young students within local schools, and serving others through FCA via being a speaker, huddle leader, etc.
"Sportsmanship is that value I have to thank my dad, David, from when he coached me when I was young. He would always tell my older brother (Matt) and I to play the game you came to play and let the other stuff go. I always remember this when on the field playing for the Fighting Tiger Football team. I just think about not only the team I'm representing but also my family, community, etc. A great coach once told me, 'Punish your opponent in between the whistle, help him back up and then punish him again the next play.'
"These are only a few instances in my life where I see these core values at work constantly. In the future I plan to use these in my future classroom and coaching endeavors as I mentioned before. These five core character values will not only help me hold myself accountable, but will allow me to do the same with my future students/players and hopefully impact their lives for the future."
