Published: May 17, 2009 11:40 pm      

ISENBERG| District 6, LHAC focus on sportsmanship

Sportsmanship is a major topic in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, throughout District 6 and across the state.

The conference and district have adopted the Knute Rockne philosophy which he stated as: One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 others preaching it.

The LHAC conducted its first sportsmanship workshop on May 11 at Johnstown High School. The idea was proposed by Trojan senior Ed Sheets after attending the National Federation of State High School Associations student leadership conference in Indianapolis last summer.

The mission of the LHAC conference was to provide an opportunity for students to identify good and bad sportsmanship while discussing prioritized issues. Four students

– one from each class, a freshman, a sophomore, a junior and a senior – were to represent each of the 12 member schools.

District 6 also takes the challenge of sportsmanship seriously, noting that it is an aspect of athletics that has diminished in recent years with the collegiate model for sportsmanship from the students, fans and players being less than superlative. And those deficiencies have trickled down to the high school level.

Thus, establishing good sportsmanship in high school athletic programs is both a challenge and priority for District 6.

The District 6 committee currently recognizes one senior high school and one junior high school for their leadership in promoting good sportsmanship.

In addition, the 50 senior high schools across the

10-county area in District 6 were eligible for $4,000 in scholarship awards through the program “Sportsmanship: Let it begin with me!”

The program recognizes two senior students – one female and one male from each of the schools – who exemplify leadership in sportsmanship.

The selected students will receive sportsmanship medallions from their respective schools.

In addition to the medallion, eight names were randomly drawn in a lottery and each of those students received a $500 gift certificate in recognition of their accomplishments in the area of good sportsmanship.

Of the eight recipients, five are from the area including: Devin Lansberry of Cambria Heights; Steve Ling of Conemaugh Valley; Breanne Miller of Ferndale; Paul Weatherly of Johnstown; and Bethany Buck of Somerset.

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Fathers and sons: Over the course of the LHAC baseball season, there was a trifecta of father-son combinations on the field for a game between Richland and Johnstown.

Umpires Bill Ladika Sr. and Bill Ladika Jr. worked the game. Richland head coach John Sidor and his son, assistant coach Garrett Sidor, were opposite of Johnstown head coach Dee Dee Osborne and Trojans assistant coach Chance Osborne.



Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.