13 Basketball Players Win $160K for Sportsmanship

Playing with respect and kindness just paid for college for 13 Pennsylvania high school athletes.

Five players from Kennard-Dale's girls basketball team and eight from New Oxford's boys team are sharing $160,000 in scholarship money. The students earned the awards not for scoring the most points, but for showing outstanding sportsmanship throughout their seasons.

The Gretchen Wolf Swartz Scholarship Fund honored both teams after officials voted them as the most sportsmanlike programs in their league. Every senior player from the winning teams could then apply for scholarships to help pay for their futures.

The winners are heading to impressive schools including Penn State, West Point, Cornell, and Florida. Ella Dunbar will attend York Tech, while Brayden Billman is bound for Cornell and Tanner Hough for the University of Florida.

Officials don't just watch how players behave on the court. They observe everyone connected to the program including fans, coaches, cheerleaders, students, and administrators from junior high through varsity level.

The scholarship honors Gretchen Wolf Swartz, a York County basketball official who worked games from 1981 to 1995. After her death in 1997, her fellow officials created the memorial fund to reward young athletes who play the game the right way.

The Ripple Effect

The fund has now awarded more than $1.5 million to deserving students since its creation. What started as scholarships for just two students has grown dramatically as the program recognized more worthy recipients.

In 2016, the fund removed limits on how many players could receive awards. This year's group of 13 is the second largest ever, just behind the 16 students honored in the 2021-22 season.

The message is simple: treat people well, and good things follow.