Florida Gulf Coast University has won the Sherman Day Trophy as the Atlantic Sun Conference’s top women’s athletics program for the seventh time, according to a May 28 announcement. This marks the second consecutive year that FGCU has earned this distinction, with previous victories including four straight years from 2014-15 through 2017-18.
The Eagle women achieved notable results across several sports during the year. The volleyball team secured the ASUN regular season championship, while the soccer team won the ASUN Graphite Division. Women’s tennis finished as runner-up in their conference, and both swimming and diving and women’s golf teams placed second at their respective ASUN Championships. Additionally, FGCU’s softball team took third place in its division, beach volleyball reached the conference tournament semifinals, cross country finished fourth at its championship event, and women’s basketball ended fifth in conference standings.
Points for the Sherman Day Trophy are awarded on a descending basis in three-point increments. For a sport to count toward all-sports standings, at least half of full ASUN members must participate. Championship points are determined by how many teams compete in each sport; for team sports with divisions such as soccer and softball, points are split accordingly based on divisional finish.
Standings for this trophy rely on percentage calculations: each school’s earned points are divided by total possible points available to that institution based on sport participation and performance.
The Sherman Day Trophy is named after Dr. Sherman Day—a key figure in advancing women’s sports—who was instrumental in founding the New South Women’s Athletic Conference while serving as Director of Athletics at Georgia State in 1985. He later served as commissioner of that league before guiding it through its merger with ASUN in 1991. According to the ASUN, this award recognizes an entire department’s commitment to empowering female student-athletes and fostering a culture of championship-level performance.
