By Hamilton Richardson
Elmore/Autauga News
Top Photo: Myla Brown from Autaugaville High School.
Parents, local dignitaries and community leaders came together Monday night to praise and honor several young people who have achieved great things already in their short lives and have made a big impact on those around them as well.
The 36th Annual YMCA-FCA Awards Banquet took place Monday at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Prattville, honoring some special young people and some special older ones, too.
The purpose of the banquet, according to a document provided by the YMCA, is to promote the mission of the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and the YMCA to impact young people for Jesus Christ and to provide community programs based on Christian principles. The banquet also aims to honor the student athletes of Autauga County high schools that have demonstrated Christian leadership in their school and community.
The event, which featured comments by two special speakers, Austin Golson and Steven Clark, was hosted by Judd Davis from WSFA-TV. Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie, County Commissioner Jay Thompson and School Board Member Jim Manderson were in attendance as well as other local leaders and several school principals.
Before the presentation of several awards to students, the Otis Reeves Coaches Award was presented to Prattville Christian Academy Coach Jason Roberson.
David Lewis, CEO and General Director of the Prattville YMCA, stood and praised Otis Reeves.
“Otis served the Prattville YMCA for 49 years until his retirement in January 2021,” Lewis said. “He worked in almost every area of our YMCA and he used this to make a positive impact on the lives of so many young people here in our county. He was instrumental in helping to establish this awards banquet and ran the YMCA-FCA awards each year beginning in 1986 when the awards started. Otis’s fingerprints are on almost every youth program that the YMCA runs today.”
As Lewis turned his attention to the honoree, he said, “Coach Roberson is the Head Basketball Coach at Prattville Christian Academy where he has spent more than 20 years coaching girls’ and boys’ basketball. Jason’s coaching philosophy is centered around the word ‘Panthers’, the school’s mascot. P stands for playing, A stands for All Out, N stands for No Fear, T stands for Together, H stands for His Glory, E stands for Each Other, R stands for Remembering to give him the credit, and S stands for Success. Coach Roberson believes that winning basketball games will take care of itself if these points of this acronym are the focus.”
The next award given was the T.O. McDowell Christian Leadership Award, which was presented to Hunter Davis, who was honored for his display of servant leadership through the YMCA and community activities.
Austin Golson and Steven Clark came up to the stage next to share encouraging words to the students and their parents using stories from their football careers and also what they learned in life from a focus on their faith.
The Leadership Circle Awards were next to be presented to several outstanding student athletes from each school, which included the following:
Autaugaville High School: Jamarcus Golson, Jaden Nixon, Makasiah Burns, Alisha Burwell, Deon Steele
Billingsley High School: Jackson Manning, Hannah Emfinger, Randriquis McCary, Macie Hubbard, Shidaisha Harris
Marbury High School: Maddox Hollon, Addyson Jarman, Callie Carter, Erin Nelson, Caleb Sutton
Prattville High School: Jessica Cord, Marie Downey, Samantha Stauter, McCayla Hines, James Byard
Autauga Academy: A.J. Perry, Tyrus Sellers, Jake Robbins, Cody Tornow
Prattville Christian Academy: Avery Rogers, Hannah Jones, Brady Hughes, Caroline Schumpert, Cooper Osborne
The next awards to be given out at the banquet were the Christian Leadership Awards, in which one student from each school was chosen to be honored. The following students were chosen from each school:
Prattville Christian Academy: Ella Jane Connell (Basketball and Volleyball)
Marbury High School: Jack Thompson (Football and Baseball)
Autaugaville High School: Myla Brown (Volleyball)
Autauga Academy: Alexis Robbins (Soccer and Varsity Cheerleader)
Prattville High School: Ava Cardona (Soccer)
Billingsley High School: Ashton Arnold (Baseball)
At the end of the evening, one student was chosen to receive the Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award, which included a $2,000 academic scholarship. The honor went to Ava Cardona from Prattville High School. SEE MORE PHOTOS BELOW.
