Playing a sport in high school can be one of the most enriching parts of a student’s school experience. Many athletes don’t continue their sports past graduation, but at State High, when athletes do decide to continue their sporting journey, the results are often extravagant. 

Barry and Bruce Parkhill are two great examples of alumni that continued to play their sport. As brothers, they were both drawn to basketball. Both Parkhills were on the State High basketball team and achieved great things during their time. 

Barry Parkhill was among the highest all-time scoring players during his senior year of high school, even breaking the 1,000 point barrier. Later, as a Virginia Cavalier, he won Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) men’s basketball player of the year, averaging 21.6 points per game. He has played for a number of different American Basketball Association (ABA) leagues and coached for a number of different universities. 

Bruce Parkhill was also an overachiever in any sport thrown at him. At Lock Haven University he was on the basketball, track and field and soccer teams. After graduating, he went on to coach basketball at three different universities, including Penn State. There, he is regarded as one of the best coaches in the history of the basketball program, leading the team to four 20 win seasons in a row. 

Everyone knows that State High students takes football very seriously. Many players of the Little Lions football team have gone on to do very impressive things in their sport. Two standouts are Matt Rhule and Larry Johnson Jr. 

Rhule went to Penn State, where he played for the football team all four years. After college, he went on to coach at seven different universities, and for two NFL teams: the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. He is now employed as head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. 

While Larry Johnson’s personal life has been, in a word, complicated, his professional career has been extensive. After graduating from Penn State, Johnson went on to play for the Kansas City Chiefs for seven seasons and then had brief stints for a few other NFL teams. 

If these athletes tried to achieve what they did without being on their school team, it would have been difficult. Nearly all sports require the challenge of teamwork to have success. 

Neve Johnson, State High freshman and volleyball player of three years, spoke to this by saying, “I like playing with the people I have right now, and I like being part of the team, but sometimes it gets intense.” 

While playing sports on a school team is important, those who didn’t participate in sports in the traditional “team-school” sense cannot be overlooked. Robert “Butch” Leitzinger is a shining example of this. 

Currently a driver for the Dyson professional sports car racing team, Leitzinger was in his first race at 16 years old, but has said that he has been interested in cars since he was much younger. Over his career, Leitzinger has won a number of prestigious races. 

Some, like Leitzinger’s father, may frown upon these “unconventional” sports such as car racing at first, but to that, Leitzinger and others often explain the positives of these less common sports. 

Lia Shcrag is currently a freshman at State High who has been horseback-riding for nine years. Horseback riding has taught Shcrag discipline.  

“The discipline to get all the horse chores done kinda helps me learn the discipline to get homework and schoolwork done. When I’m doing my homework, I can sit there and be like ‘Ok, I get to go ride my horse later,’” Shcrag said.

Any sport can help young people grow. Anything from basketball and volleyball to race car driving and horseback riding will improve their discipline and team skills. Playing any sport in high school is sure to help anyone in the long run, and these athletic alumni of State High have proven that time and again.