PLANTSVILLE — Fifty schools, including Nonnewaug, attended the annual CIAC Sportsmanship Conference on Oct. 7 at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville.
Senior Ellie McDonald was one of the eight seniors who attended this conference. McDonald said it is beneficial that Nonnewaug attended.
“I think it was important because it teaches the student-athletes great values and ideas to take back to their teams to better their school athletics,” said McDonald.
Not only does this conference teach athletes about respect, but it can also help them bring ideas back to their school.
(Savannah Czerepacha)
“The point of the Athletes’ Council attending this conference was to help build leadership skills among our athletes,” says Kyle Brennan, co-advisor of NHS Athletes’ Council, “but to also help equip them with skills that benefits their school teams and also help with school spirit.”
There can be many different ways one can share leadership and sportsmanship.
“We were definitely talking and thinking of different ways we can incorporate new activities into our school spirit,” says three-sport athlete Emma Jackson, a senior. “There are many different ways we can show thanks to officials after a game, especially if it was an important game.”
Schools can also share sportsmanship with the opposing team, which represents a school as a whole.
“We can take what we learned back to our own teams and share the information to better the sportsmanship of the team and how we represent Nonnewaug,” explains McDonald.
Student sections are a large part of the school spirit within Nonnewaug. Through the conference, the seniors were able to brainstorm new ideas to implement into the student sections.
“We can have a battle of the classes to see how many people from each class show up to games, then give them a point that will count towards the final pep rally points,” says Jackson.
Being able to attend the conference is special because athletes can see what other schools do for their school spirit and also hear the voices of their athletes not only from schools, but also pro athletes.
“I think that the conference was very beneficial and definitely should bring some underclassmen,” says McDonald. “The values that are learned can be carried through every sport and every team as the years go on, so we can build on what we represent right now.”
