Lions Club honors senior athletes

Shout out to our senior student athletes, who were recognized at the annual Lions Club Dinner and Senior Awards Night Wednesday at the Avon Inn! 

Our senior athletes of the year were Jessie C. and Kalman D. while our senior sportsmanship award winners were Maria G., Angelie S. and Bobby B. 

A huge thank you to the Avon Lions Club dor such a fantastic evening, the Avon Inn for hosting us and to Dave Whitcomb for serving as our keynote speaker. 

Whitcomb’s tenure in Section V football goes back decades and has taken him from Midlakes to Fairport to Geneva, where he won a New York State Championship in 2006, then back to Midlakes, where he re-built the district’s football program from the ground up. 

While he’s impacted hundreds - if not thousands - of lives through the sport, Whitcomb’s coaching roots originated right here in Avon when he accepted his first coaching position in 1977. 

He’ll forever have a place in our school’s history as he led Avon to its first sectional football title in 1983. 

Speaking to our senior student athletes last night, Whitcomb observed that people are fond of saying that being on a team or involved in sports helps you later in life, though they seldom seem to specify how. 

“I wanted them to understand that they’re not always going to be successful. They’re going to feel pain, be emotional and have hard decisions they have to make,” said Whitcomb. “I really tried to get across to them that when those times come around, they can draw on their experiences as student athletes here in Avon to help guide them in the right direction.”

Whitcomb then sought to impress on our soon-to-be alumni the importance of giving back. 

“You got a great foundation at Avon. It's a wonderful community, has great athletic programs, lots of terrific teachers and coaches and those people helped you along the way,” he said. “Now it’s your turn to help the next generation of kids whether through a church group or a youth sports team. There’s lots of different causes out there but whatever you choose, try to give back to the community that’s given so much to you.”