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"Hey, ref. Wanna borrow my glasses?”
“My blind grandmother could have made that call.”
Student sections, parents and fans come up with interesting chants and sayings to make sure basketball officials know they disagree with a call or non-call. But those words don’t help your cause, and they could be costing your seniors valuable scholarship dollars.
Like, serious scholarship money.
Last year, seniors from the Susquehannock girls and Bermudian Springs boys basketball teams were awarded shares of a $150,000 scholarship pot through the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Sportsmanship Award.
The Warriors and Eagles were notified at the end of last year’s basketball season about their win, and senior players and managers were invited to apply for scholarships. Members of the scholarship board reviewed the applications, interviewed the applicants and determined the winners.
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Briley Jones and Georgiana Snyder split Susquehannock’s $75,000 pot, and Tyson Carpenter, Michael Diaz, Gabriel Kline, Austin Reinert and Ethan Young shared Bermudian Springs’ $75,000.
The scholarship program and team awards were created by York County basketball officials after the death of Gretchen Wolf Swartz, who officiated games from 1981 to 1995. When she died from leukemia in 1997, officials created the memorial team awards and scholarship fund to promote and honor the sportsmanship she displayed throughout her playing and officiating careers.
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Officials vote at the end of each basketball season to honor a YAIAA boys and girls program. The decision isn’t just based on varsity players’ conduct.
They take into account the season-long conduct of players, fans, faculty, students, managers, coaches, superintendents, athletic directors and cheerleaders from junior high to varsity.
Nearly $1.2 million in scholarship money has been awarded to players from 16 schools, including one win by Gettysburg, since the program began in 2001.
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Susquehannock teams have combined to win team awards 14 times. Bermudian Springs’ boys program has won seven times and Biglerville teams have won five times.
Seven schools in the York-Adams league have never won.
Scholarships were awarded to one boy and one girl from 2001 to 2013, when it doubled for two seasons. The number of scholarships has varied since 2016, including a program-high 16 recipients in 2022.
A total of 116 seniors have benefitted from the program over the years.
Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ydr.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: YAIAA basketball: League officials on lookout for good sportsmanship
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