Hope football player Santino DiCesare has been given the Flying Dutchmen’s Allan C. Kinney Award, which has been presented annually since 1971 by the football coaching staff to a senior player for maximum contribution to the football program.
This award is named in memory of Allan C. Kinney, a member of the Hope football team who died of cancer in his senior year in 1967.
DiCesare is a senior safety from Dorr (Wayland HS). He claimed All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association First Team honors for the second time last month. He holds the school record with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown at Olivet during the 2011 season.
DiCesare was honored during a recent team banquet along with Team Offensive MVP and running back Shawn Jackson of Comstock Park (Comstock Park HS) and Team Defensive MVP Cody Lindemulder of Mulliken (Lake Odessa HS).
Kinney was a business major from 1964-67 who was heavily involved in many aspects of campus life, from the football team, to the Fraternal Society, to the Kemper Scholars — a highly selective business leadership development program. From the records that were kept, it is clear that he lived his life with a passion for being involved with and contributing to Hope's community. Sadly, Allan was diagnosed with cancer and passed away on November 11th, 1967 — less than a year away from his graduation.
To honor his memory, Kinney’s parents, Norm and Louise Kinney, established the Allan C. Kinney Award through the football program. During the years before their deaths, they would personally present the award at the post-season banquet.