LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION congratulating the Wallkill High School Girls
Basketball Team and Coach A.J. Higby upon the occasion of capturing the
Section 9 Class A Championship

WHEREAS, Excellence and success in competitive sports can be achieved
only through strenuous practice, team play and team spirit, nurtured by
dedicated coaching and strategic planning; and
WHEREAS, Athletic competition enhances the moral and physical develop-
ment of the young people of this State, preparing them for the future by
instilling in them the value of teamwork, encouraging a standard of
healthy living, imparting a desire for success and developing a sense of
fair play and competition; and
WHEREAS, The Wallkill High School Girls Basketball Team are the
Section 9 Class A Champions; on Friday, March 4, 2011, at SUNY New
Paltz, the Lady Panthers defeated Red Hook by a score of 44-40, giving
Wallkill its first Section 9 Class A Championship; and
WHEREAS, In addition, the Wallkill High School Girls Basketball Team
won the Mid-Hudson Athletic League Conference title on Friday, February
18, 2011, by defeating John A. Coleman Catholic by a 36-34 score; this
was Wallkill's first Mid-Hudson Athletic League (MHAL) championship
since the late 1960s; and
WHEREAS, The athletic talent displayed by this team is due in great
part to the efforts of Coach A.J. Higby, a skilled and inspirational
tutor, respected for his ability to develop potential into excellence;
and
WHEREAS, Coach A.J. Higby who is retiring this year, won his first
MHAL and Section 9 Class A championship in 22 years of coaching; and
WHEREAS, The team's overall record of 17-4 is outstanding, and the
team members were loyally and enthusiastically supported by family,
fans, friends and the community at large; and
WHEREAS, The hallmarks of the Wallkill High School Girls Basketball
Team, from the opening game of the season to participation in the cham-
pionship, were a sisterhood of athletic ability, of good sportsmanship,
of honor and of scholarship, demonstrating that these team players are
second to none; and
WHEREAS, Athletically and academically, the team members have proven
themselves to be an unbeatable combination of talents, reflecting favor-
ably on their school; and
WHEREAS, Sports competition instills the values of teamwork, pride and
accomplishment, and Coach A.J. Higby and the outstanding athletes on the
Wallkill High School Girls Basketball Team have clearly made a contrib-
ution to the spirit of excellence which is a tradition of their school;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
congratulate the Wallkill High School Girls Basketball Team, and Coach
A.J. Higby on their outstanding season and overall team record; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Wallkill High School Girls Basketball Team and to Coach
A.J. Higby.