Catholic student shares message about
sportsmanship with nation

By Brandon A. Evans

A sixth-grade student from St. Thomas Aquinas School in Indianapolis got the opportunity of a lifetime earlier this month—the chance to address a nationwide audience.

Rosemary Fay was the middle school winner in a nationwide essay contest sponsored by USA Today, and her essay about good sportsmanship was published in the national newspaper on March 1.

“To me,” Rosemary wrote, “ ‘sportsmanship’ shows up as a quick smile, a quiet but consoling pat on the back, or a big shout of glee when a teammate does well.

“Really, it’s just another word for ‘respect.’ A good sport plays fair and has genuine respect for other people’s talents and gifts, whether on the field or off.”

Those opening lines to her essay gave the essence of everything Rosemary has learned about sportsmanship in her physical education classes at St. Thomas Aquinas School and from her involvement in Catholic Youth Organization sports.

More than anything, the essay is about the eight other girls in Rosemary’s class—girls who could have easily made fun of her or left her out when she struggled with learning how to play kickball.

Their choice to support Rosemary “made a world of difference,” the sixth-grader wrote. “I still play sports today because of their sportsmanship.”

William Fay, Rosemary’s father, said that while the work of St. Thomas Aquinas School cannot be discounted, “I think that you also can’t leave out the camaraderie of the girls.”

To a certain extent, he said, the girls teach each other about sportsmanship.

“I know that in some classes about this age girls get catty and start talking about each other,” said Sally Fay, her mother. “They’re pretty respectful of each other, and support each other. It’s kind of a wonderful thing to watch.”

William Fay recalls a particular kickball game that the girls lost. Instead of having a dismal reaction, the girls gathered in a circle on the field and sang together.

“It was a way of showing their solidarity no matter what the result was,” he said. “That was a very powerful thing to see. And it wasn’t like they were being real solemn or anything–they were smiling and laughing. But the message was absolutely clear.

“It’s not like they don’t care about winning, because they do,” William Fay said, “but they’re able to balance that and probably put a higher premium on the relationships.”

While he said that he is proud of his daughter and her writing ability, it is what she wrote about that is important.

“I thought it was a beautiful statement about Catholic education,” he said.

William Fay said that both he and his wife try to teach their daughter respect, like any parent would, and they are “wonderfully supported” by St. Thomas Aquinas School.

“We chose to live in our neighborhood and to go to St. Thomas because diversity is very important to us—understanding and respecting all people,” Sally Fay said.

“We’re proud of St. Thomas, because they did do a wonderful job,” she said.

Karen Gardner, physical education teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas School, said teaching good sportsmanship is a part of the curriculum.

“To me, it’s a natural part of what we do, and we should stress that,” Gardner said, especially in light of the poor [example of] some professional athletes.

As a part of every gym class, the teacher asks the students to pick the “best sport” of the day from each team.

It used to be, Gardner said, “if you weren’t good in gym, you hated it. I think now all the kids like it—even the kids that aren’t very skilled.”

“[Rosemary], to me, epitomized everything that I’m trying to teach,” Gardner said. “She put that into words. I read [her essay] to every grade.”

She had asked her students to consider writing for the USA Today essay contest, a suggestion that was made into a class assignment by Katherine Seger, who teaches sixth-grade English, religion, social studies, reading and vocabulary. Seger played sports at Valparaiso University.

“I personally—being from an athletic background—realized the importance of sportsmanship,” she said, and how it “translates into the classroom.

“I realized that having good sportsmanship ultimately led to a successful team [and] a successful life,” Seger said.

That was a point that Rosemary made in her essay—her friends were not just kind on the field, but everywhere else.

“If you learn on the field to cooperate and just let it go, it’ll soon become a habit, and you’ll learn to cooperate with it in your life,” Rosemary said in an interview with The Criterion.

She said that her teachers are always talking about good sportsmanship, as well as her parents.

When it came to putting down her thoughts about the subject in her essay, Rosemary said she waited until the last minute and didn’t expect to win.

“It was a big surprise,” she said.

Seger said that she is extremely proud of Rosemary and the entire sixth-grade class.

“I think it goes to show that the kids are listening and they are watching what adults are saying,” Seger said. †