“Be bold and be you, it is your responsibility to leave your legacy,” said Roberto Clemente Jr., son of the Pirates baseball legend, at the thirteenth annual Sportsmanship Summit November 16.

The WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit, presented by First National Bank and the WPIAL Sportsmanship Committee, was held at the Heinz History Center.

Beaver Area’s athletic director Mr. Alan Alcalde, joined by four student athlete representatives—juniors Evan Baker, Eli Bechdel, Madeline Boser, and Alexa Presutti—attended the summit for a very special reason.

For the first time in school history, Beaver Area accepted the WPIAL Sportsmanship Award.

Although this is the first time Beaver Area attended for an award, they have attended in previous years to expose student athletes to the ceremony’s speeches and educational value.

“It was a great experience; it was fun and educational. There were many great speeches throughout the event, and it was a honor to to be one of the people chosen to receive the sportsmanship award for Beaver,” said Bechdel in regards to the overall experience.

The ceremony started with an introduction from Mr. Scott Selter, the WPIAL Executive Director: Mr. Orlando Fulgenzio III, the Vice President of First National Bank who is the event’s sponsor; and Mrs. Anne Madarasz, the Director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, Heinz History Center.

After the introduction from the hosts and the sponsor Mr. Seltzer gave a speech called “We and Us?” which explained how a team should be more than just an individual.

The next speech was given by Mr. Paul Skirtich, the WPIAL District 7 Interpreter for Basketball. His speech was called “Team Sports: How Everybody Wins” which explained the values of working in a team.

Following these speeches the winners of the WPIAL Food and Fund Drive were announced.

After the winners were announced, student athletes toured the Sports Museum. Athletes were able to explore two floors of Pittsburgh sports history.

When the student athletes returned, the importance of equality in sports was emphasized though the WPIAL Equality Council for Diversity and Inclusion’s speech called “Do No Harm.”

Following “Do No Harm,” Beaver Area was then awarded the WPIAL Sportsmanship Award.

Beaver Area won this award when other schools noticed the level of sportsmanship our school can demonstrate.

Five winners can earn this award annually, so Beaver Area won alongside Hampton, Ligonier Valley, Penn-Trafford, and Saint Joseph.

After accepting the award, Mr. Gregg Bahrain, Executive Director of the Grable Foundation, gave his speech “#21 Days: Building Positive Habits” which highlighted how his role models, Roberto Clemente and Fred Rogers, can impact young athletes’ game.

To conclude the ceremony, a final speech was given by the special guest of the day, Roberto Clemente Jr., with his speech “Leaving a Legacy” which addressed how his father left his legacy and how student athletes can follow by leaving their own.

Mr. Alcalde oversees all Beaver Area sports and to him the sportsmanship means just as much as winning.

“I was very proud that our Beaver Bobcats were chosen as recipients of the WPIAL’s Sportsmanship award. To achieve something of this magnitude is no easy feat and is a testament to the hard work of our school community. This means our students, coaches, administrators and families worked hard at exemplifying the highest standards of sportsmanship at all of our sporting events,” shared Mr. Alcalde.

He continued: “We have established a high level of sportsmanship in our school community and it begins with what Beaver is about: respect and dignity. We exemplify that through our work, our coaching, whether we win or lose, it is there and that is what Beaver is all about. It’s very special to win our first ever sportsmanship award and I know it won’t be our last.”