It is something none of the boys on the team will ever forget the rest of their lives. The Gainesville Tornadoes, basketball players from a juvenile corrections facility in Gainesville, Texas, play against regular school teams. They don’t have a lot of people showing up to cheer them on, sadly including their own families. Vanguard College Prep players Ben Martison and Hudson Bradley decided to change that.
According to The Blaze,
Before the game against Gainesville, Martison and Bradley asked some of their fans to do the unheard of: cheer for the other team.
As Gainesville walked onto the court, they were left astonished. An excited crowd roared for their success as cheerleaders revved them up.
“I mean every time they scored the gym was just lit up with cheering and clapping and everyone was on their feet,” Bradley said. “I think in a way this is kind of how sports should be. It just kind of showed me the real impact that encouragement and support for anybody can make.”
It’s a gesture the Gainesville players will never forget.
“When I’m an old man I’ll still be thinking about this,” one said.
The juvenile offenders may never have anyone offer them anything that kind again for the rest of their lives. The two teenage boys who put their idea into practice are real leaders and examples for their peers. They represent hope for their generation. Watch the touching video below.