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After a recent high school football game Dana Horne was kind enough to share this message with both teams:
Good Afternoon Cañon City Tigers and Harrison Panther Coaches,
I would like to take an opportunity to acknowledge and praise both high school football programs. You should commend your players, coaches, and programs for the sportsmanship that was displayed on Friday night. My husband, Kyle Horne, is the announcer for the Cañon City Tigers, calling the plays and recognizing the players. I have the honor to assist him with spotting plays and a multitude of other responsibilities. We both watch the game intently with binoculars so we can catch the correct numbers or catch any penalties when they occur. Over the past 20 years, we have watched a multitude of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors on the field. However, on Friday, October 18th, we captured something so much more special. We were able to witness young men demonstrating the utmost sportsmanship, by patting each other on the back or lending a hand to get up. It was obvious there weren't any chippy comments occurring. It was even more telling of both programs as they united around a fallen player being carted off the field to an ambulance, continued to play a focused and respectful game until the end, and gathered to pray in the middle of the stadium afterward. Wow! Thank you for demonstrating the character and beliefs all humans should follow. In today's society, we rarely hear positives or receive praise for our efforts. Please share with your young men that their behavior and effort did not go unnoticed and they definitely deserve such praise. I am proud to be an employee and educator in Cañon City. I'm am also proud to have witnessed such loving acts by fine young men. If anything, I hope all can learn it isn't about winning or losing, but showing integrity at every point in your life.
Keep up the amazing work and good luck to both teams for the remainder of the 2019 season!
Sincerely,
Dana and Kyle Horne
In response, Harrison Superintendent of Schools Dr. Wendy Birhanzel offered this message:
Horne Family,
Thank you for taking the time to send this note. In today’s world, we see too many examples of bad sportsmanship so we truly appreciate you taking the time to note this. Regardless of the score on the board, this is what coaching and teamwork are about; raising young adults to be caring members of society. Harrison is proud to partner with Cañon City in our sports division and we do our best to teach our athletes to respect each other on and off the field.
Thanks again for the kind words and have a great week!
Dr. Wendy Birhanzel
Superintendent of Schools