By John Jessup of CBN News
Four years after starting a girls’ varsity basketball program, the Oklahoma City Lady Griffins made history, clinching their first championship last February.
Two days later, the high-schoolers again made history when they conceded the victory in an extraordinary act of sportsmanship.
“I needed to know in my heart, for certain, that we were the champions so that I could sleep that night,” said Brendan King, head coach of the Lady Griffins.
After celebrating with the players, Coach King went home and reviewed the game footage.
COACH DISCOVERS HIS TEAM ACTUALLY LOST THE GAME
He tallied the score twice. Both times his team came up short, losing by one point to the opposing team, Apache High School.
A scoreboard error during the game had given the Griffins a one-point advantage – and the district championship trophy.
For Brendan King, that discovery was heartbreaking.
So was the reality of his next move: breaking the news to his players.
BREAKING THE TRUE RESULT TO THE TEAM
The following day he asked the captain to send a text to the team’s group chat.
They planned to meet at the school before the end of the weekend.
“The girls’ ears immediately perked up, like, ‘We don’t meet on a Sunday?’” the coach told CBN News.
“They said, ‘Something has to be going on.’“
TEAM UNANIMOUSLY VOTES TO RETURN THE TROPHY
When the coach explained the scoring error and the reality of the loss, the team did not hesitate.
The players unanimously agreed to challenge the outcome and return the trophy.
“Of course, there’s hesitation [and] there’s grief,” said senior player Maya Beasley.
“But we had played the game, and there’s nothing that could take away that hard work and all of our teamwork.”
“But we never had won in the first place. So, there was a coming to terms with, ‘Oh, we didn’t win,’” she continued.
STAYING TRUE TO A HIGHER CALLING
The state governing board for high school athletics granted the team’s appeal.
Hours after the girls’ extraordinary decision, Coach King and his wife stunned the opposing team when they personally delivered the trophy and explained the error.
For the Griffins, the decision was about more than good sportsmanship.
It was also about staying true to a higher call.
TEAM’S NOBLE ACT GOES GLOBAL
“It didn’t benefit us in the way that we would have been able to continue,” senior player Bindi Paradee explained.
“But it did benefit us in showing the world that this was really the good thing to do – and the thing that glorifies God most.”
The Griffins decision was covered by CBS News and quickly spread to other national and global news outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian.
To understand why the team made that noble call requires looking beyond the basketball court.
TEAM’S CHRISTIAN SCHOOL AIMS TO SHAPE INTELLECT AND CHARACTER
The Lady Griffins represent the students at The Academy of Classical Christian Studies located in downtown Oklahoma City.
The high school campus shares space with a local church.
Yet inside – apart from the school uniforms and beginning and ending each day in prayer – it looks like a typical school.
But The Academy is part of a growing movement known as Classical Christian Education (CCE) – a three-stage developmental curriculum rooted in the Bible and the traditions of ancient Greece and Rome.
It aims to shape both intellect and character.
SPOTLIGHT ON CLASSICAL AND CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Last year, Forbes magazine put a spotlight on the rise of CCE’s methodology and its impact on the educational market.
“Parents know what their calling is – and their duty towards their children,” said Academy headmaster and author of the Student Prayer Book Nathan Carr.
“They see classical and Christian education as among the most effective partnerships – giving [students] memory; helping them be practiced in virtue; and baptising their imagination into something true, good, beautiful, and eternal.”
Parents Casey and Sarah Shutt agree. They have two sons currently enrolled at The Academy.
DAUGHTER THANKFUL FOR THIS EDUCATION PROGRAM
Their daughter, Cora – now a college freshman – was part of the Lady Griffins team that voted to conceded last season’s championship win.
“Our daughter can look back and tell us now that she’s in college ‘These are the things I really appreciated. I’m thankful for this education,’” explained Sarah Shutt.
“That is a blessing as a parent.”
Educators say the goal of Classical Christian Education at The Academy isn’t solely focused on academic success, but shaping students’ values and affections in line with the kingdom of God.
“It gives them a higher target in life,” Casey Shutt explained.
ACADEMY’S LESSONS AND VALUES APPLIED OUTSIDE SCHOOL
Those lessons and values are applied outside the walls of the classroom and in other arenas – at home and in after-school clubs and sports.
Since the story of the Lady Griffins went viral, the team has gained a growing fan base.
“I’m thankful the story is out there, because I hope it’s encouraging to other coaches and teams out there that there’s so many bigger life lessons than just wins and losses,” said Coach King.
“Multiple social media messages have come my way – then the letters started to show up to the school – and donations to the girls’ basketball program.”
‘SEEING THE JOY OF ANOTHER PRODUCES DEEPER JOY IN ME”
Headmaster Carr believes the Lady Griffins story has struck a cultural nerve.
“They wanted to tell the truth, and they knew that telling the truth would result in greater joy for them.”
“Seeing the joy of another produces deeper joy in me.”
That selfless act also inspires.
“I think it resonates that it’s the right thing to do,” Casey Shutt observed.
“If this happens in this little high school setting, maybe there’s hope beyond in the political realm or the business world or in all these other spheres of life?”
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