Illing Students Are True Champions

Recently, two Illing Middle School students were recognized for the good character and sportsmanship that they exhibited over the summer at the Manchester PAL Chief’s

3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.  8th grade students Maximino Rivas of Team UConn, and Taj Williams of Team Yale were part of the winning team in the 8-14 years-old division.  It was a close competition and the boys felt that they were underdogs who wouldn’t have finished with the best record if not for the efforts of their teammate, Roosevelt Orbe.  When it was discovered that due to the unexpected turnout for the tournament there would be only one trophy available to award to the winning team, Maximino and Taj made the very mature decision to give the trophy to the person that they considered the MVP of the team – Roosevelt.  This act of kindness was rewarded when they were later presented with their personal trophies at Illing Middle School as well as official letters of thanks and recognition from Stephen Desautels, PAL Executive Director.