I think this is the first sports story I have ever blogged about, but it really is a great sportsmanship story. The short of it is a player's mother died and the player had a game that night. He originally thought he wasn't going to play, but decided he wanted to. But since his name was not on the roster, if the coach put him in the game, the other team would get to make two free-throw shots for a technical foul against the player.
So, the opposing coach huddled with his team, one kid volunteered to take the shots, and intentionally missed the throws in support of the grieving player on the other team.
After the game, both teams went out for pizza, 2 kids from each team (4 total) sharing a pizza.
The principal of the player whose mother died wrote a letter to the editor of the opposing team's hometown stating,
So, the opposing coach huddled with his team, one kid volunteered to take the shots, and intentionally missed the throws in support of the grieving player on the other team.
After the game, both teams went out for pizza, 2 kids from each team (4 total) sharing a pizza.
The principal of the player whose mother died wrote a letter to the editor of the opposing team's hometown stating,
"As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders," Womack wrote.