For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, he writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.
--Grantland Rice
For those who think sportsmanship has nothing to do with actually winning or losing, look in the trophy case at Hidden Valley High School. There sits evidence that excellence is measured more than whether you win or lose, it’s also how you play the game.
Hidden Valley won the Wachovia Cup last academic year in the VHSL Group AA. The Wachovia Cup is given to the school whose teams win the most points in a year. Points are awarded for reaching various levels of the VHSL playoffs. A state title nets 50 points. The runner-up gets 45; a semi-final loser earns 37.5 points, and so on down the line.
Hidden Valley won state titles in girls’ soccer, came in second in girls’ basketball, girls’ and boys’ tennis, and earned points in boys’ and girls’ swim/dive.
Still, the Titans were second to Jamestown 322.5 to 305. But, thanks to 50 points awarded for sportsmanship, Hidden Valley totaled 355 points. Jamestown received no sportsmanship points.
Hence, garnering the equivalent of a state title, the Titans won the trophy.
Part of the determination for sportsmanship points was an award the VHSL gives to schools that have no coaches or players ejected during the entire school year. Called the “Stay in the Game” Award, the Titans qualified for the honor by staying out of trouble during competition.
Can the Titans defend the trophy? William Byrd did, winning three straight Wachovia Cups from 1996-’98.
Reprinted from the Sept. 4 edition of Play By Play
