KEARNEY Neb — While coming to Kearney, Nebraska for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for a national championship was their main goal, the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions had another job to do while in town.
Fifth graders at the Central Elementary School had eagerly prepared for this day. They even made posters about sportsmanship to give to the team before the day was over. So as the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions came in to the class as a part of the Elite Eight Outreach Program, the students were ready to begin.
Head coach Denny Downing leads the way for the team and starts off with, “So are you guys awake this morning?” He gets a resounding yes in response. “Are you ready to go?” Another excited yes is the return from the class.
While some fifth graders may be shy about speaking to new people, especially with a Texas accent, this class was vocal from the beginning.
Downing begins to speak to the class about being a good sport, being committed and competitive. He questions the class about what it means to be a good sport.
After a couple of answers about being a team and sharing the basketball, one student says that not arguing with the referees is being a good sport. Coach agrees, with laughter and pointing from the team, he gives a few more examples of sportsmanship.
Coach then moves on about what it means to be on a team and lets the students talk about what kind of team they have been on, and what they think a team really is.
The students were then coached about what goals are and that each of them should have goals for themselves.
While one student’s goal was to make an A on his first math test, other students opened up about wanting to go to college and graduate. One student raised his hand to tell coach Downing, “No offense, but I would like to go to the Texas Longhorns,” which received a laugh from the room.
“Our short-term goal is to win a national championship,” said Downing to the class, before he then said another goal was academic, as he wanted the team to graduate from college.
Balance was the key word that was used when trying to explain what the Lions are trying to do.
“Its not what happens to you, but how you react to it,” Downing said as he was telling the students not to lose focus on their goals, and that not everything is going to go as planned.
Coach finished off his speech telling the class that good sportsmanship, integrity, honesty and commitment is something that everyone should strive for.
After the players and administration were introduced, I’m sure the best part of the whole thing for the students came in the form of gifts. Players and coaches walked around the room handing out A&M-Commerce basketballs, signed posters, media guides and division II bags for them to remember and enjoy the Lions players.
A final photograph was taken of the students and team, before the class wanted pictures with individual players and to get more autographs on their ball and poster.
So while a championship is the ultimate goal for the Lions, a little break to speak to fifth graders seemed to brighten up the students and give the team a sense of happiness to go along.
“It’s a great honor to be invited to do this and represent Texas A&M-Commerce,” said Downing. “It was a joy to see the smiles on the kids faces.”