The annual Sportsmanship Symposium for area high school student-athletes will be held Friday at Northwest Arena in Jamestown. Standing, from the left, are Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame president and inductee Randy Anderson (Class of 2022) and symposium coordinator Bob Goold, who is also a CSHOF inductee (Class of 2020). The men are holding photos of CSHOF inductees Kay Gould (1982), Sarah Burnett (Class of 2022) and Mel Swanson (Class of 2015), who will talk to the students. Another speaker will be Kevin Hind, who is a member of the Cattaraugus County Hall of Fame. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Bob Goold first thought about getting area high school student-athletes together for a sportsmanship symposium after attending an athletic directors meeting in Saratoga Springs.

Years later, what was once an idea has turned into an annual tradition, which will continue from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday at Northwest Arena in downtown Jamestown. Goold, the coordinator of the event since its inception 20 years ago, will welcome 235 student-athletes from 24 high schools in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. The teenagers, who will be primarily sophomores and juniors, will learn not only about sportsmanship, but also about the importance of leadership and character.

“Our motto is ‘U Unlimited equals Unlimited U,'” Goold said. “Your past is history. It’s the future that is your destiny. Too many kids look back and lament over something that happened. Let’s look forward. Fifteen or 20 years from now you’ll look down and say, ‘You know what? Maybe those guys who talked to us were right.’ It may not happen in their high school career, maybe it will hit them in college, but sometimes the light will come on as an adult, and I think that’s important.”

Assisted by 26 senior “leaders,” the underclassmen will participate in cooperative games and listen to four speakers — Kay Gould, Sarah Burnett, Mel Swanson and Kevin Hind — who have all had Hall-of-Fame coaching and/or playing careers. Gould, Burnett and Swanson are members of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame, while Hind is an inductee of the Cattaraugus County Hall of Fame.

See SYMPOSIUM, Page B2

“We have the four speakers coming and they’re just prime examples of people who came though our counties and did great things in their lives that have affected kids,” Goold said.

He noted the event is also a “win-win” for Northwest Arena, which is the host for the third time.

“Since we’ve had it there, (Northwest Arena executive director) Keith Martin has been able to get schools to come in and spend a day there and (learn) some skill building,” Goold said.

In addition, it’s not uncommon for Goold to run into one of the symposium participants at a sporting event later in the year and they’ll strike up a conversation.

“What do I hear?” Goold said rhetorically. “I hear, ‘That was the most fun I had in school all year.'”