2010 ACBF Dinner and
Awards Banquet: High on hoops!
The present,
the past provide a refresher course on what the game is all
about at annual ACBF gala
By BOB ETTINGER
Staff WriterThe
members of the 2010 Star Beacon All-Ashtabula County boys and
girls first teams got a bit of a history lesson at the Ashtabula
County Basketball Foundation Awards dinner at the Conneaut Human
Resource Center on Sunday. And it was much appreciated.
"It’s great to see and learn what people have accomplished,”
Star Beacon Ashtabula County ACBF Girls Player of the Year
Taylor Webb said. "A lot of them were before our time. It’s a
connection between their generation and ours. It was a few years
back, but the same principles — hard work, dedication and love
for the game of basketball — apply (to us).” |
BOYS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Emilio Parks, Lakeside |
Those inducted into the ACBF Hall
of Fame were the late Star Beacon sports editor Milton Alfred,
Ashtabula graduate David Benton, the latye Deming coach Russell
Bethel, Conneaut product Cindi Brunot, Jefferson graduate Donna
Gregg, Conneaut’s Heidi Litwiler, Pymatuning Valley’s Maurice
McDonald, Jefferson player Phil Miller, Geneva players Ernie
Pasqualone and Jim Osborne, Harbor player Fred Scruggs and St. John
player John Wheelock.
Webb, of
Geneva, was the ACBF Girls Player of the Year, Lakeside’s Emilio
Parks was the Boys Player of the Year, Geneva’s Nancy Barbo was
the Girls Coach of the Year and Lakeside’s Rob Pisano was the
Boys Coach of the Year. Alex Iarocci and Carly Penna of SS. John
and Paul and Kyle O’Dell of Geneva received the ACBF
Coaches’/Referees’ Appreciation Scholarship and Al Sedivic
received the Officials’ Appreciation Award.
The youngsters were able to see that success can be had by those
that have grown up here and gone on in life.
"I think it’s really good to see people that grew up in
Ashtabula County and where they have gotten in their lives,”
Penna said. "(The Hall of Famers) have been so successful and
basketball has helped them throughout their lives.
"They definitely showed us where we can go if we put in the hard
work. They laid down the stepping stones of where we want to go
in our lives.”
"It’s very nice to see the great players,” Iarocci said. "I
didn’t realize how many outstanding players there are from here.
It’s nice they come back and we can look at their achievements
and see how they strived towards those achievements.”
|
GIRLS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Taylor Webb, Geneva |
Webb, who was attending the
dinner for the second time, was able to apply some of the lessons
passed on from Hall of Fame members in her own career.
"(I learned and used the lessons) about hard work and dedication and
that I had to put a lot of time into basketball,” Webb said.
"Nothing comes easy and it only comes with the support of your
family, coaches and friends. I had all of that in my own career.
They helped me to appreciate everyone that’s helped me and supported
me through the years.”
The lesson of hard work was delivered to the youthful listeners and
they felt that, in a way, the Hall of Fame inductees were passing a
torch to them.
"(I learned) that it takes a lot of hard work to get where you want
to be at,” Nichele Johnson said. "I definitely feel (as if they are
passing a torch). They are showing us what we can do to go as far as
we can in life.”
"Their experience has a lot to do with that,” Marissa Olmstead said.
"You hear every person talk about the game. They know what to do to
get where we want to be in life.
"We will be the people in the future that will be in the position
they’re in now going into the Hall of Fame, especially with the
talent we have here (at the tables with the first team members).”
"(I learned) it’s a team game,” Cody Blizzard said. "Teammates are
the most important, it’s not just you. It’s a team sport.”
Some of the younger members of the first teams will even try and use
those lessons in the remainder of their careers.
"It’s an honor to be here because those guys are legends,” Chris
McMellen said. "I think we try to be as good teammates as we can be,
but today definitely solidified that opinion. They’re the best
players that have been in the county and it’s just an honor to be in
the room with them.”
|
ASHTABULA COUNTY BASKETBALL FOUNDATION trustees Mike Joslin
(left) and Nick Iarocci close out the organization’s eighth
annual dinner and awards banquet Sunday. |
|
