By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
This summer marks the third year that St. Vincent Sports Performance has conducted a remarkable awards program in Central Indiana. The St. Vincent Spirit of Sport Awards are presented at a banquet in July that is one of the most heartwarming events on the athletic calendar.
You see, these are not awards for great athletic performances or most valuable players. Rather, they are awards given in several categories to those athletes or teams at the many schools serviced by St. Vincent Sports Performance who best exemplify the qualities inherent in the St. Vincent philosophy.
Those are qualities like determination, overcoming adversity, community service, academic excellence, and several more.
The evening reveals many of the great, unknown acts of courage and class shown by high school athletes in Indiana every year. Hoosier Authority is very proud to be a partner in these awards. Each week between now and the awards banquet in July, we are going to feature a story on one of the nominees in the different categories.
We assure you that reading and watching these stories will make you laugh, cheer, occasionally cry, and generally make you proud that you are a sports fan. This week, we have the story of two schools that took a widespread charity effort to the next level.
Many of you have heard of the Coaches Against Cancer effort. It is a charitable function on behalf of the American Cancer Society that has been heavily endorsed by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. Each year basketball teams in the state are encouraged to participate in some function during the month of January to help raise money for the cause.
This year, two coaches in Indianapolis as well as the members of their respective teams took the project and turned it into a crusade. Bill Silvey and Steve Burke are the coaches of the Indianapolis Chatard and Indianapolis Scecina girls basketball teams, respectively. They are also friends. Several weeks before the teams were to play each other in mid-January, the two coaches talked in an effort to come up with a way to support the Coaches Against Cancer effort.
The more they talked, the more ideas sprang forth. When the two men took the ideas to their players, the response was overwhelming.
Instead of engaging in one project, the two teams spearheaded several different projects at one time. They included a donation drive, a penny drive, a silent auction at halftime of the Chatard-Scecina game, and several other endeavors. In all, the two teams raised more than $3,700 for the charity. Along the way, they received more back than they could ever possibly give.
We sat down with coach Silvey of Chatard as well as player Erica Stahl and discussed the effort and the lessons learned. We think you will enjoy the discussions!
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