The Moore League hosted ins inaugural Sportsmanship Symposium on Tuesday morning at Millikan High, a star-studded gathering where students from all seven league schools gathered to hear major speakers talk about the value of sportsmanship. The students also engaged in team-building exercises at the event, which was the brainchild of Moore League secretary Lisa Ulmer and was emceed by Lakewood assistant principal Nicole Lopez.
“We wanted to put something together to talk about the ‘why’ of high school sports,” said Ulmer when she began planning the event several months ago.
The hundred or so students in attendance got to hear from the best of the best, as Willie McGinest, Misty May-Treanor, and Violet Palmer all passed on wisdom.
McGinest is best known as a dominant football and basketball player at Poly who went on to star at USC and for the Patriots. He emphasized the team-building concepts he learned while in the NFL and how they can be implemented beyond the sports world, while Palmer (the first female NBA referee and a Compton High alum) talked about overcoming adversity, and also gave pointers for how to be interact with officials.
May-Treanor spoke about hard work and the importance of staying true to yourself.
The students also made banners and were treated to a lunch catered by the562.org sponsor Naples Rib Company. The event was also sponsored by the Long Beach Century Club.
Ulmer is hoping to make the Symposium into an annual event, and judging from the reaction of the students and administrators on hand, that seems like a no-brainer.
