by Ken Reed
It’s fun to step back every now and then from the ego-and greed-infused aspects of sports and look at a story of “sport doing good.”
I came across one of those stories last night …
Carter Gates is a 9-year-old Colorado Springs resident who loves basketball. Unfortunately, he’s also battling leukemia and faces a couple more years of chemotherapy treatments.
Carter’s a big fan of the local Colorado College men’s basketball team. Thanks to a great organization called Team IMPACT (www.goteamimpact.org), and the efforts of a lot of other good-hearted people, Carter recently signed a “national letter of intent” to play basketball for the Colorado College Tigers. (See “Tiger Basketball Team … http://bit.ly/1zcPXen)
The Tigers started out as part of Carter’s support team but also have become fast friends with the young hoopster.
“He’s an awesome kid,” said James Lonergan, a forward for Colorado College. “He’s a big basketball fan. His sense of excitement is through the roof. It’s fun just hanging out with him; just being friends. There’s a light-hearted feel about him; he’s happy-go-lucky.”
The Tigers are definitely making a positive impact in the life of Carter Gates but Carter Gates is also positively impacting the lives of the young men on Colorado College’s basketball team.
“Sometimes you get to practice and you’re tired,” said Lonergan. “But what you are doing is his dream. You know you’re lucky to be there; to be playing basketball. It makes you play as hard as you can. He’s a great teammate.”
Carter recently suited up as Colorado College’s “sixth man” and scored a basket.
This poignant story has soul.
It was captured beautifully by NBC Nightly News in a short segment last night. Take a few minutes of your time to watch a college basketball team making a difference in a way much more impactful than a victory on the scoreboard. (See “College Sports Team … http://nbcnews.to/1sN22p6)
–Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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