As the CYC sports season moves from soccer and volleyball into basketball we bring you three examples of sportsmanship. We congratulate all our players and coaches who practice good sportsmanship every time they take the court or the field. We also thank those folks that observed these acts and shared them with us, in an effort to recognize and promote good sportsmanship at all our CYC activities.
- St. Gabriel's Athletic Association held its annual 4th grade basketball tournament over the Christmas Holidays. On two separate occasions, Alex McAteer, a St Gabriel 4th grader went out of his way to help an opposing player up from the floor after they had fallen. Then in the next game he played went to the aid of an injured player from St. Simon's team and comforted him until his coach came over to help. Congratulations Alex, that's a great way to start the season!!
- This is a story of sportsmanship by many. A couple of weeks before the North County Volleyball Spirit Games, Mary Wilhelm, an 8th grade volleyball player from Holy Trinity, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). The players and families of Sacred Heart-Florissant came up with a way to honor Mary at the Spirit Games. Along with the prayers they said for Mary, they made headbands that were printed with an orange ribbon (Leukemia's ribbon color) and Mary's initials, MW. The Sacred Heart coach, Shelley Gotsch, had enough headbands made to give to the Holy Trinity team and other players that were friends of Mary's. Both teams wore the headbands at the Spirit Games and also in their playoff games. It is amazing how two teams can find friendship among each other and help lift spirits even though they will be competitors against each other on the court. Pulling for each other and Mary is a great way to come together at the end of their grade school volleyball season. They will all remember the outstanding friendships they have created through CYC volleyball. And they ask that we all continue to pray for Mary and her family.
- On January 4th, Brian Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote an excellent story about great sportsmanship in the high school basketball game between Fox and Kirkwood High School. He described how David "Chubbs" Stillman was carried off the court that night on his teammates shoulders. Did he sink the winning basket of a championship game? No! Chubbs is a Special Education student at Kirkwood High School who tried out for the freshman basketball team, and end up being the manager of the team for four years. As a senior he got to play in this game, and yes he did sink 2 shots. More importantly, Kirkwood coach Bill Gunn and his friend, Fox coach Chris Wilkerson understood how important a moment like this can be not only for Chubbs, a Special Olympics athlete, but also for everyone in the gym that night. If you haven't read the story, we strongly recommend you do. You can find it by clicking this link,
But what is the link with the CYC? Well David "Chubbs" Stillman is a kid who loves basketball, and played CYC basketball growing up in St. Peter's parish. In fact, his father has coached a number of CYC teams over the years.
Now it is your turn to look for those Random Acts of Sportsmanship as you play, coach or watch your next CYC game. Then send an e-mail to buzzswanston@archstl.org so we can share that story on the CYC website.
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