By MAYAN PAZ Photo by PARKER NISBETH
Tiger Media Network
Starting last year, it’s now a Thanksgiving-week tradition for Fort Hays State University and the men’s basketball team to host a youth day in Gross Memorial Coliseum. For the second straight year, children from all around Hays, pre-school to middle school, got a day off from school and gathered together to support Tiger basketball. This year, over 3500 spectators, most of them school children, watched the Tigers defeat Central Christian College 89-54.
It was a different atmosphere from the beginning, as the children filled the arena with loud cheering noises already through the warmup. Before the game started, the children in the crowd sang the national anthem instead of the usual singer or choir on the court. Both teams’ benches were full of smiles and lifted spirits, and the atmosphere in the Coliseum was great. Kaleb Hammeke, a graduate guard for the Tigers, addressed the great atmosphere the kids created.
“It makes you smile, and it was pretty good. So it’s something awesome to hear there. They did a great job, and I’m really, really glad we could be part of it,” he said.
FHS Head Coach Mark Johnson was glad that his team could put together such a persuasive performance for the children, obtaining the largest win of their season so far.
“We’re very appreciative of the local school districts and communities that allow them to come here for the day. I appreciate Matt Cook and the athletic department for setting this up. It’s a great experience,” he said. “It gets really loud in here, and I thought we, for the most part, played well and put on a nice show.”
It was not only the players and the coaches who enjoyed the day. It was an exciting opportunity for the kids to step out of their routine and come cheer for the Tigers. Everyone seemed to enjoy that day, and the teachers who came with the kids were delighted with how that day turned out.
Wendy, a middle school teacher from Hays Middle School, said that was her second time coming here and that she and the kids enjoyed it very much.
“They are having a good time, and it might influence some of them to join Fort Hays University in the future,” she said.
Jenny from Lincoln Elementary at Hays is experienced with these days as an experienced teacher. However, it was only her second time with that specific group of children.
“We are having fun, and all the kids are wearing the Tiger t-shirts,” she said. “So we have a lot of fun here.”
This experience might be influential for the children when they reach the moment that they will have to choose a university to go to, and Wendy from Hays Middle School thinks that for kids who would like to play basketball in college, this is even more important.
Johnson said having future basketball players from that crowd is a possibility and that he hopes to see more children and families coming to the games in the future.
“We’ll have some future basketball players in that crowd for sure,” he said. “Maybe we can get them to keep returning to some more games and other families as well.”