Throughout a lot of tough and sweaty competitions, sportsmanship remained a priority for the Susquehannock Lady Warriors.
The girls basketball team won the Gretchen Wolf Swartz Sportsmanship Award for their display this past season.
The award is presented by the YAIAA referee association to one girls and one boys basketball team in the YAIAA to recognize their outstanding sportsmanship throughout the season.
Seniors Briley Jones and Georgie Snyder now have the opportunity to earn money from this award by submitting an essay as to why sportsmanship is important to them. The allotted money distributed throughout the players normally exceeds $100,000.
According to York Dispatch, “Gretchen Wolf Swartz was a York County basketball official from 1981-95. Following her death from leukemia in 1997, her fellow officials created the memorial team awards and a scholarship fund to promote and honor the sportsmanship she displayed.”
Sportsmanship is important to Jones.
“Sportsmanship…means treating everyone with respect because it is just a game,” Jones said. “You don’t have to be mean to other people, and it’s important because you’re there to have fun. It shouldn’t be that serious that you’re being rude, and it’s not hard to just be nice to those around you.”
Girls varsity head basketball coach Alex Fancher has been coaching for 10 years, three of them being as head coach and four being as an assistant varsity coach for Susquehannock. Under his leadership, the team won districts and reached the state semifinals in the 2016-2017 season.
Fancher coaches alongside his father, Terry Fancher, who has been coaching for almost 20 years.
The coaches have been implementing sportsmanship in their family-connected coaching style for nine years together, so far.
“I think our coach is a big part of our sportsmanship and our positivity because he’s a very positive person,” Jones said. “I think his positivity goes into us, and that’s how we stay positive while playing. It also helps when we lift each other up and never get down or point fingers.”
Junior Lindsey Sweitzer has been coached by the Fanchers for three years. Not only has she been coached by them for the school season, but they are also her club basketball coaches in the York Thunder AAU Basketball program.
“I think the coaches, both JV and varsity, had a really big part in gaining the sportsmanship award because if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be the team we are and how we act,” Sweitzer said. “We know how to be respectful to those around us, because of how they coach us.”
The team was not always perfect in sportsmanship, and some games tested it.
“I would say when we played Southwest because they didn’t have the best sportsmanship, so it was hard for us to have sportsmanship…,” said Jones. “In the end, we did have sportsmanship, and we came out with the win. We didn’t let them get into our heads, which was huge for us.”
Despite the hard competition the girls faced throughout the season, they needed to stick to their roots to come out on top in the end.
“…a great example was the Mechanicsburg game… losing there at the end, it’s very easy to just get frustrated…but what I saw at that moment we kind of just came together and thought to ourselves ‘hey, we gave a shot, we came up a bit short,” A. Fancher said. “I think it was their assistant AD who came up after and said that was probably some of the best sportsmanship he has seen in an intense moment like that ever. That solidified why we got the award….”
Fancher thinks differently about the game rather than how other coaches view the sport.
“I would rather lose a game by 20 and have good sportsmanship, teammates that care about one another …treat the other team with respect…than be a team that wins without class or isn’t humble or a team that loses and just immediately points fingers at somebody other than themselves in terms of ‘Hey, what can I do personally to help the team move forward?” A. Fancher said.
The team prioritizes other key aspects rather than winning the game they all love to play.
“I like getting to hang out with all the girls because of how fun and respectful everyone is,” Jones said.
The Lady Warriors ended the season with a bigger win than a District title by learning and exhibiting skills and traits that will help them to achieve success for years after their last time on the court.
