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CHS graduate
Malloy receives Sportsmanship Cup
By Jeffrey
Pickette
Special to the Citizen
The adage
‘nice guys finish last’ does not pertain to Chris Malloy, a 2008
graduate of Canton High School. While athletes are traditionally
lauded for statistical achievements like homeruns hit or goals
scored, Malloy, a three-sport athlete, was the 2008 recipient of
the CHS Hall of Fame Sportsmanship Cup.
 Malloy
received a trophy and a $500 scholarship at the school’s
Scholarship Night on June 4
for his “exemplary conduct on and
off the field of competition.” The award, sponsored by the
Decembrele family, has been presented to a graduating
student-athlete from CHS since 2004.
“I think
that [sportsmanship] is probably the most important thing,”
Malloy said. “You got to win with class and you got to lose with
class. It’s all about respect for me.”
Malloy was
nominated for the award by all three of his coaches — Athletic
Director and soccer coach Danny Erickson, hockey coach Brian
Shuman, and lacrosse coach Bill Bendell.
“Chris
epitomizes sportsmanship and class,” Erickson wrote in an e-mail
to the Citizen. “He never lets winning or losing impact
how he carries himself as a CHS athlete. He is really an
incredible role model.”
Malloy said
he not only values the relationships he has formed with these
coaches, but also the life lessons they helped to instill.
“I didn’t
just grow as an athlete when I played for them; I grew as a
person too,” he said. “They taught me a lot about myself, taught
me to love the game, be a good teammate and respect my opponent
— all things I can take with me to all aspects of my life — not
just on the field or the ice.”
Malloy’s
selfless, team-first attitude was put to the test this past fall
during the soccer season. Malloy started all but one game his
senior year, an October 20 contest at Duxbury when coach
Erickson made a “tactical change” and kept him out of the
lineup.
“A lot of
kids I think would have been really upset and put themselves
first. But he didn’t,” Erickson said. “He understood and
accepted it and was back out there the next day at practice.”
For Malloy,
being inactive against Duxbury was one of the “hardest moments
of the season.” Relegated to the sideline, he made the most of
the opportunity.
“I needed to
be a good teammate. I wasn’t going to make a big scene about
it,” he said. “I was pretty much their biggest cheerleader —
giving people tips if they were doing something wrong, but at
the same time cheering for [goalie] Devin [O’Gorman] when he
made a great save.”
In addition to the Sportsmanship
Cup, Malloy and Alyse Rocco were 2008 Hockomock League
Scholar-Athlete Award recipients. He will attend Boston College
in the fall, the alma mater of his parents, Paul and Julie.
July 17, 2008
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