Bel Air High School will be holding its 2nd Annual Student-Faculty Basketball game on May 24th at 6:30pm in the Bel Air High School Gymnasium. The proceeds from the game will be split between the World Wide Charity UNICEF and the Matthew “Hank” Rutherford Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Matt Rutherford was a student here at Bel Air and he died in an unfortunate car accident. He would have been a member of the Bel Air High school graduating class of 2008. Following his death Matt’s parents set up a scholarship in his name and is was agreed that a Student-Faculty Basketball game would be a good fund raiser.
In December of 2007 Matt Rutherford was driving some of his friends home from a basketball game when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed. While one of his friends was uninjured, Matt suffer severe head trauma and his other friend had fractured vertebrae. Matt was comatose. With no hope given from the doctors in his severe condition Matt’s parents decided to turn off the machines that were keeping Matt alive and to also donate his organs in line with Matt’s wishes. Mr. Skelton was one of Matt’s teachers at the time. He told the story of Matt’s love for sports. He said “for some reason he was a big University of North Carolina fan. And the week after he passed away I placed a Tar Heels uniform on his desk and chair and nobody sat there for a while.” He continued to explain that Matt was just a happy kid; he had a breezy personality and was always pleasant. He spoke in a quiet voice “It was hard to end a conversation with him without being uplifted.
“Last year the teachers crushed the students” said Mr. Skelton, who helped in the coaching last year; this year though, Mr. Skelton will be playing. While talking about the game Mr. Skelton said “it’s not about who wins and who loses. It’s about the cause and the fun we can have. I’m excited to play.”
The faculty members playing in the game are chosen by volunteer; it is a great service for a member of the BAHS faulty to give their time especially on a Friday night. The list of faculty members participating in the game is: Mr. Seigal, Mr. Clemmer, Mr. Weeks, Mr. Kasouf, Mr. Webb, Officer Krause, Mr. Komondor, Mr. Austing, Ms. Taylor, Mr. Doyle, Ms. Schmid, Ms. Sokolis, Ms. Farris, Mr. Skelton, Mr. Kelly, Ms. Wildasin, and Ms. Stants.
Students are chosen by nomination in addition to a random “draw from a hat”. The students participating are: Adria Ayelsa, Apurva Shah, Malorie Mora, Mariah Thomas, J.D. Bruck, Matt Robertson, Michal Hante-Goskie, Sarah McKinney, Sean Bond, Justin Bittner, Christian Vito, Hanson Ecerland, Renie Toomes, Shannon Williams, Kevin Morrissey, Calvin Fleagle, Dakota Londer, Bill Dearth, Tyler Norcross, Arman Khan, Ben Ludwig, and Njaramba Gitonga
You can learn more about Matt and his scholarship fund at http://matthewrutherford.org/story.php. You can also learn more about the wonderful works of UNICEF at www.unicef.org . Come out and support the school, the Matthew Rutherford Memorial scholarship and UNICEF. Watch your teachers and friends play against each other for a common cause.