If I were to summarize my current passion to chronicle the past 140 years of county athletics, I would first need to define the difference between sports history and sports heritage. Sports history is concerned only with the past, while sports heritage connects our traditions to the present. It reminds us of the shared cultural values and memories that create a community. We all know sports can be vital to developing leadership and team building skills. In addition, the physical, social and emotional benefits of athletic activities are well documented. However, I feel the social cohesion that is created by sports is of equal importance – cohesion that is increasingly missing in a world dominated by self-absorbed screen time. Rather than foster creativity and connection, this digital tsunami has overwhelmed our social institutions because it has been hijacked for monetization and manipulation.
Sports history and trivia can be interesting and fun for many people. Sports heritage, on the other hand, can be nothing short of a spiritual link to our youth, our family and our hometown. Sports history is concerned with dates, wins and statistics. Sports heritage is a visceral brew of history plus folklore, shared experiences, geography and even architecture. If you wonder how architecture can relate to sports heritage, think about the gymnasium at Margaret Bell Miller. For the past century, county athletes have played and wrestled in that unique structure that was born of a bygone era. The gladiatorial aspects of that gym cannot be duplicated in boring modern-day edifices. Moreover, during my coaching career, I spent many Friday nights in the gleaming, turfed football stadiums of suburban Pittsburgh. They are absent the soul and character of our intimate fields around the county, where a father can watch his son from a vantage point close enough to actually feel his past on the same sidelines. The proximity of the players, cheerleaders and band members to their parents and fans fosters social connections and a sense of belonging that stay with us throughout our lives.
This geographic and cultural identification can be an antidote for the modern alienation caused by technological and economic changes beyond our control. However, the demise of local newspapers and the proliferation of larger regional and national sports platforms has resulted in a dearth of this cultural currency. Youth league, middle school, bowling, dartball, hunting and a myriad of other local results are no longer available to proud parents and grandparents. Those of us old enough to remember the Democrat- Messenger can recall the thrill of seeing our name in a real box score or our team photo in the morning edition. Without this type of lasting communal bulletin board, our accomplishments are as fleeting as the calendar. There will be no written record of the everyday things that make us unique. We will always be able to research the accomplishments of a Cary Kolat or Coleman Scott. However, no matter how proud we are of their accomplishments, they are hardly representative of our daily lives. It will be the goal of Hometown Heritage to re-create a space to convey this information and ensure its committal to our continuing heritage.
We will rely on individuals, coaches, athletic directors and league officials to provide us with the information to fill these pages with the accomplishments of our local athletes and outdoorsmen. This will be an effort to recapture the athletic heartbeat of the community. We understand it is not possible to return to the gentle winds of the past, but we can adjust our sails to move on together in a positive direction during turbulent times.
