BALTIMORE, MD – US Lacrosse and its Youth Council have announced the winners of the 2009 Youth Excellence Awards. US Lacrosse will honor these seven individuals from around the country at the ninth annual US Lacrosse Youth Excellence Awards Breakfast on January 16, 2010. The awards breakfast will place at the US Lacrosse National Convention in Baltimore.

A complete listing of awards and honorees are as follows:

Outstanding Contribution to the Game
Noel Ebner – Syracuse, N.Y.
This is the Youth Council's highest honor. The award is for individuals who, over the years, have consistently contributed to the youth game of lacrosse in support of the US Lacrosse mission and vision and in ways that will have a lasting impact on generations to come. Noel Ebner began his lacrosse career in 1970 when he received his first lacrosse stick from Louis Jacques on the Onondaga reservation. He was a member of the first high school team at West Genesee Senior High School. Ebner's long history of volunteerism began with the Onondaga Valley Lacrosse Association in 1993, serving as a coach, board member and eventually, president. Ebner was also a board member of the Roy Simmons Sr. Memorial Lacrosse League for Boys and Girls in 2003.

On a national level, Ebner has done exemplary work in multiple positions over the past decade. Ebner has served as an at-large member of the US Lacrosse Youth Council since 2000, then served as a vice president for four years, and moved on to become its president from 2006 through 2008. He also chaired at least five different US Lacrosse committees and focused on events such as US Lacrosse youth festivals and the US Lacrosse U-15 National Championship. Ebner has served on the women's board of governors and the board of directors. He also is actively involved with the Upstate NY chapter of US Lacrosse, serving as its secretary and youth representative.

Girls' Coach of the Year
Rose Sulley – Portsmouth, N.H.
This award is given to an outstanding youth girls' coach who embodies the characteristics of an ideal coach supporting the US Lacrosse mission and vision, dedicating him or herself to his or her players and providing the best possible lacrosse experience for everyone involved with his or her team. With just four years of coaching under her belt, Rose Sulley has made a tremendous impact on the sport. She was a volunteer assistant for the Seacoast Lacrosse Club's U9 Girls team (2005), assistant coach and field coordinator for the Seacoast Lacrosse Club's U11 Girls team (2006), head coach for the Seacoast Lacrosse Club's U11 Girls team (2007), and head coach for the Seacoast Lacrosse Club's U13 Girls team (2008). Sulley imparts a love for the sport into every young girl that she has coached.

Boys' Coach of the Year
Paul Deppi – Newtown, Pa.
This award is given to an outstanding youth boys' coach who embodies the characteristics of an ideal coach supporting the US Lacrosse mission and vision, dedicating him or herself to his or her players and providing the best possible lacrosse experience for everyone involved with his or her team. As a founding member and former President of Lower Bucks Lacrosse, Paul Deppi has been coaching for the past 16 years. He instills a sense of pride in all players, coaches, parents and officials and for this he is looked at as a role model. He teaches integrity and sportsmanship at all times and expects it back in return. Deppi's advocates say he would rather lose doing things the right way, then to win doing them the wrong way.

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2009-10-26