As part of the Catholic Youth Apostolate, the CYC Sports Department takes pride in its long tradition of providing children throughout the St. Louis area with opportunities to compete with their parishes and friends in a variety of sports. For over 50 years the CYC has sponsored archdiocesan playoffs, recognizing league, district and area wide champions.
Two years ago, the CYC started a program called Random Acts of Sportsmanship (RAS). We asked any parent, coach, spectator or player to simply report any and all outstanding acts of sportsmanship they witnessed during a CYC game. These are acts that we want to encourage all our participants to display every time they take the field or court. In addition to recognizing winners of games, we feel it is imperative for the CYC to search for and recognize Acts of Sportsmanship at our athletic events. As a Catholic organization we must train our children to display Christian values in all parts of their lives, especially during athletic competition.
A few recent Random Acts of Sportsmanship...
- Officials Casey and Pete Fox were recognized as RAS winners for their work on Sunday, April 7th as they officiated two 5th grade girls closed games at St. Cletus. They explained their calls and helped comfort the girls as they played in the Archdiocesan semifinals.
- Tyra Brown, plays on the Our Lady of Guadalupe 8th grade Girls open team. A fan nominated her for her good sportsmanship shown to her opponents. In a first round game, after a hard collision, she immediately went over to her opponent and helped her up and asked if she was OK. Way to go Tyra!
- In a tight, hard fought first round Cadet Boys closed playoff game between Incarnate Word and Our Lady of Festus, we witness a wonderful sight at the end of the game. Every player and coach on BOTH teams went up to both officials and thanked them for officiating their game! How great is that! Both teams deserve the RAS award!
- Although Elisah Johnson's 8th grade St. Ann team dropped the championship game to Assumption, Elisah was constantly encouraging his teammates and was a catalyst in a big fourth quarter comeback that fell just a few points short. His sportsmanship stood out to those watching.
- In what might have been the most exciting championship game of the Archdiocesan playoffs, 7th grade boys open, St. Cletus defeated Our Lady of Pillar. Both have outstanding teams and each team had a RAS recipient. Coach Mark Norwine of St. Cletus was recognized for his handling of his players in an extremely loud and excited atmosphere. Coach Mark kept his players calm and focused when it would have been easy to get caught up in all the noise and excitement. Even more impressive was #15, Austin Hannah of Our Lady of Pillar. Late in overtime, with the score tied, Austin was called for a charge and knocked a St. Cletus player to the floor. Instead of being upset with the official or himself, instead of pouting or ranting, or listening to the crowd that was screaming, he turned around and helped the St. Cletus player to his feet and told him "good play". Now that is great sportsmanship under intense conditions. That is something for Austin, his coach and parents to be proud of. It is also a great example for all of us in the CYC!
When you "catch" a CYC player, coach, official or fan performing a Random Act of Sportsmanship, please send an email to buzzswanston@archstl.org explaining the situation and act. Or you can call 353-8911 ext. 13 and describe it. We want to recognize all those folks in our program because Good Sportsmanship makes Great Sports!
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The Catholic Youth Apostolate is excited to announce that the Fr. William Scheid Players will open their 34th season with the musical comedy, The Music Man. Five audition dates are scheduled for the production which will be performed at the Florissant Civic Center on August 23, 24, and 25. 
