Sanders lost life during tragic shooting


January 24, 2000

Columbine High School coach and teacher William "Dave" Sanders, who lost his life during last April's tragic shooting, has been chosen as the recipient of the ESPY Awards' eighth annual Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Hailed as a hero for the effort he made to lead hundreds of students to safety, Sanders was married with three daughters and five grandchildren. His wife and three daughters will accept the award on his behalf. The ESPYs, given for Excellence in Sports Performance, will be aired live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Dave Sanders
Sanders is the eighth honoree of the Ashe Award.
Sanders, 47, taught business courses and coached girl's and boy's athletics, including girls softball, basketball, track and baseball at Columbine for 25 years.

"Dave Sanders showed everyone around him throughout his life what sports should be, and then showed the world what real courage is all about when he gave his life for his students," said ESPN executive editor John A. Walsh, who serves as an executive producer for the ESPYs.

A procession of students and relatives who spoke at his funeral last spring painted a picture of a man who set an example of fairness, sportsmanship and caring for students and faculty alike.

"He was a wonderful man," said Chris Buckner, a 1997 Columbine graduate, as told to the Boulder Daily Camera. "He taught me how to run hurdles. I fell down quite a few times, but he was always there to pick me up."

Columbine coach and teacher Rick Bath had been one of Sanders' best friends. They coached basketball and softball together at Columbine since 1975, competing against each other before then. Bath said he wasn't surprised Sanders put the students' safety before his own.

"He was very caring, more concerned about kids than getting a victory," Bath told Scripps Howard News Service. "He was always looking at what they were going to gain from things, rather than what he could."

Jim Valvano (1993), Steve Palermo (1994) Howard Cosell (1995), Loretta Claiborne (1996), Muhammad Ali (1997), Dean Smith (1998) and Billie Jean King (1999) are the seven past winners of the Award.