Good Showmanship Can Instill Lasting Qualities
To The Reader’s Forum:
Last Thursday night, Jan. 19, my wife, son, and I attended what was possibly the most exciting high school basketball game I have attended. My daughter, a varsity cheerleader for the Olean basketball team, was the main reason for our attendance, but we were in for a treat.
In a tight game throughout, Olean hit a three pointer to beat Chautauqua Lake.
What really struck me was the group of what I believe to have been junior varsity Chautauqua Lake players that came up and sat amongst Olean fans. As the game remained tight and very contentious in the waning moments, these young men were very vocal in cheering on their team, including cheering on a young man who scored his 1,000th point for Chautauqua Lake. The first to do so in the history of the program. Truly an accomplishment.
I made it a point to go over to them in encouragement, shaking hands with a couple of them. Not once during the game did they get rude or belligerent. These budding gentlemen were loud but great sports. Even after the game, and the tight loss, one of them came up to me and said the shot that won the game for Olean was a great one and that he respected it. Truly the start of what could be a group of very classy young men. I wanted to make sure their actions were noticed and encouraged. It’s always great to see kids with some pride and school spirit.
For all of you that go to games, any season, any sport, encourage this kind of behavior regardless the outcome and which school the students happen to be from.
Great job, boys. You truly represented your school well.
Chris Chapman
Olean
