Sugar Bowl

Katie Kampen, the two-time Gatorade Louisiana Volleyball Player of the Year, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Female Amateur Athlete of the Year from the New Orleans area for 2014-15. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.

Kampen capped her outstanding senior season of volleyball by being named the NOLA.com Large Schools Player of the Year and being selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the LHSAA Championship Match. In 2014, she tallied 572 kills, 380 digs, 80 blocks and 55 aces and led the Cubs to a 47-2 record this season along with the 2014 Division I state title. She earned the 2014 Miss Volleyball title for Louisiana and is a 2014 Second Team All-America selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Kampen finished her high school career with 1,983 kills and 1,501 digs. She signed to play volleyball for LSU next season.

“It’s just her leadership that makes her such a great player,” said Mount Carmel coach April Hagadone. “She has started since she was a freshman and she has just gotten better every year as far as setting an example for her teammates on and off the court. She was always the go-to person when we needed a point and that shows leadership. She was willing to take the ball when the game was on the line.”

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month - the honors enter their 66th year in 2022. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 102 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 89-year history. The 90th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2024. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting nearly $2.4 billion into the local economy in the last decade.

-AllstateSugarBowl.org-