On Saturday morning at the Howard Johnson’s Inn and Suites in Newark, our second semi-annual Delaware Sports All-Heart Team awards were presented. The winners for this season were Amanda Young from Red Lion Christian Academy, Leah Thomas from Seaford High, Gary Paulish from A.I. duPont, Kegan Nuss from Caesar Rodney High, and Jenna Pavlik from Cape Henlopen High School.

Paulish, Nuss and Pavlik are wrestlers for their schools. There should be no surprise that there are as many as three on this team because there could be 50 because of the physicality of this sport. But these three young people were nominated and eventually selected for the All-Heart Team for reasons that extend beyond the normal boundaries that even most championship wrestlers reach.

Jenna Pavlik is one of the Vikings captains of her team. Her will to win and overcome the physical and mental aspects of this sport while competing on the boy’s team earned her that honor and the All-Heart Team award as well.

Pavlik, a senior, finished second in the world in the summer of 2000 in her weight class for all high school girls.

Kegan Nuss is a sophomore at Caesar Rodney who wrestles for the J.V. team. His 11-5 record in the 152 pound weight class was admirable by itself since he wrestled behind the talented Zack Kopp all year, but toss in the fact that Kegan has been blind since birth and add a whole new twist to that won-loss record.

Nuss is not the only blind wrestler to achieve some level of success in Delaware. Back in 1974 Ed Bordley won a state championship while wrestling on a Caesar Rodney team that also included Morgan Rigby, one of Nuss’s wrestling mentors.
Nuss also throws the discus and the shot put for the Riders spring track team.

Gary Paulish came to A.I. duPont from Smyrna after a series of family hardships. A.I. duPont teacher and bandleader Paul Parets took him into foster care after hearing Gary explain to a guidance counselor his positive feelings about his visit to A.I.

Gary, who wrestled when he was younger in Smyrna, turned to wrestling again but needed to deal with some more adversity. A growth plate defect was the direct cause of 18 shoulder separations over the course of some time. Yet Paulish continued to make appearances on the mat as soon as he would be cleared to continue.

A five and a half-hour operation eventually helped Gary return to a normal physical level, but it was his will and determination that he displayed throughout the length of his physical and emotional ordeals that earned him this honor.

We are usually critical when family members suggest each other for awards. But the nomination of Leah Thomas by her 13-year old sister Rachel only touched on some of the physical challenges she has had to endure. Leah is currently on a chemotherapy schedule and her Lupus affliction is of the fourth, and worse, degree. 99% of patients with a 4^th level degree of Lupus cannot compete at all let alone excel.

Following is Leah’s nomination.

I would like to nominate my sister, Leah Thomas, for the All heart team. Leah has shown heart, desire, and enthusiasm in every sport she plays. She is the backbone to the team. The one who keeps them together and keeps them pumped up. For years my sister has had to battle with Lupus, a disease that effects the lungs. She doesn’t let it stop her from playing her best and working hard. She has never once let it bring her down. She is an inspiration to the team. Leah is graduating this year and has played on the varsity field hockey team since she was a sophomore and has been on the varsity girl soccer team since she was a freshman. She got the honor as being a co-captain for the field hockey team. She has received many awards in all four year of being on the Seaford High School sports teams; a recognition from Tina Fallon for her outstanding sportsmanship, team MVP for soccer, to all conference (first and second team). My sister has showed her best on and off the field and she has not only been an inspiration to the coaches, teammates and fans but to me also.

From,
Rachel Thomas

So Leah was an easy choice.

Another easy choice was Amanda Young from Red Lion Christian. I won’t be able to articulate why she deserves to be honored any better than her nominator, Cheryl Lacy, her basketball coach. Following is the letter.

Amanda Young exemplifies the heart of an athlete daily. I have been privileged to coach this remarkable girl for two basketball seasons and to witness her contribution in Soccer and Field Hockey as well. She is the most determined and tenacious player on the field or court and spends every ounce of energy and gut that she has at each practice and competition.

What makes this contribution truly remarkable is that she is severely asthmatic and has a chronic back injury due to an automobile accident. Many times I have been terrified watching Amanda gasp for air after expending all her energy for her team, sometimes in an ambulance. Because of the severity of her asthma, an inhaler is not often sufficient in opening her airways. Amanda must always carry with her an albuterol nebulizer (treatment normally given by a paramed or hospital) to treat her when she suffers an attack.

During competitions, I watch her labor to fight off an attack so that she can remain in the game contributing to her team. And she contributes greatly. Amanda scored 297 points in 20 games during Red Lion Christian's first ever varsity basketball season. She also was a leading goal scorer in Field Hockey and Soccer. She led the basketball team in steals and scoring.

As if playing through asthma were not enough, her chronic back injury keeps her in constant pain. Amanda plays with magnets taped to her back to relieve some of the discomfort. During trips home from away games, I hold this dear girl in my arms while she clenches her fists so tightly trying to deal with the agonizing nerve damage in her back.

If you compare Amanda's performance and hustle and heart to the players around her, she stands out as the player giving it all, all of the time. Amanda has learned to completely rely on the Lord Jesus to sustain her and encourage her. She is a devoted Christian who wishes to live and play for the Lord and trusts Him with both of these impediments. In coaching Amanda, respect for her determination overrides sympathy. She has learned to use adversity to achieve.

Sincerely,
Coach Cheryl Lacy
Red Lion Christian Academy

I like it when these choices become so easy.

There were over 100 nominations for this second award. Unfortunately, almost half of them were not done correctly. If you were someone who thinks that may have happened to your nomination, by all means, resubmit the nomination again in the Fall when we select our third All-Heart Team award.

It should be noted that the other half of the nominations were limited to statements like "he gives 110% all of the time." While that is always admirable, we felt the need to trim down the list a bit.

Special thanks to Jim Soutar from Crown Trophy on Garden of Eden Rd in Wilmington for donating the plaques that were presented to the winners. Mr. Soutar is a wonderful man who is worthy of our support for his business so please call him at 302-478-9620 for trophy and award needs.

Portions of the proceeds of the Diamond State Games will benefit the Delaware Sports All-Heart Team in the future.

GIVE EM A BREAK

There have been a couple of occasions to speak of when athletes, teams, or coaches should put on their brakes when clearly beginning to "lay the smack down" on an opponent. We will end all of that right now with a very simple solution that is already in place in certain sports – a mercy rule.

I won’t debate the whole genesis and progression of the problem here because I wouldn’t add anything new to the topic.

Let’s take soccer first. The mercy rule here is simple. After one team takes a five-goal lead, the game is over. Make it seven if you are so inclined, but how many teams have you heard come back from a five-goal deficit?

Over to basketball where a 20 to 25-point lead would either end it or start the clock running as is now the case in high school football. If the margin grew to 30-35, game over, take a shower, celebrate or go back to the drawing board whichever side of the scoreboard dictated.

Anything else? Ok, let’s now be done with that. Someone please make the written proposal so we can move on. Thank you.

We will be at the New Castle County Track Championships taping for the television show on the 12^th and then at the States at Polytech on the 18^th and 19^th. So remember to bring your "We watch Delaware Sports" signs to ensure your place on a future show.

As soon as we get the tournament schedule shells in the mail we will post them in the corresponding sport’s tournament sections.

If you would like to help with the Diamond State Games for 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 days please give us a call at 302-731-1676. There are a few positions that we need to fill with some talented and hard working people who can donate some time to help make the event the success it appears that it will be.

There are now over 800 athletes registered for the Diamond State with a full month to go before their start. This indicates that we will be well over our initial projections of 2000 athletes. A few of the sports normally see registration swell about a week before the tournaments starts if not even a day or so before. There is still some thought that we may well be close to 3000 that would be 1000 more than the very first Empire State Games in N.Y. some 20 years ago.