Girls' League Renamed to Honor Founders

By Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
12:47AM / Tuesday, November 25, 2008

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Myles and Margaret WhitneyView Slide Show

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Erika DeSanty was in second grade when she was asked to choose between ballet slippers and basketball sneakers.

What might have been a tough decision for a second-grader was easy for DeSanty — the sneakers. She might have picked the footwear but it would be her mentors who would inspire her to continue down court.

"Myles and Margaret Whitney have paved the path of my life," DeSanty told the spectators filling the bleachers in Conte Middle School gymnasium on Monday evening. "I learned the fundamentals of the game here. It teaches you so many life lessons, how to win and lose and how to be a part of a team."

Monday was opening night for the North Adams Girls Basketball League, a program of the Northern Berkshire YMCA, and a time to honor the Whitneys, who were instrumental in founding and continuing the program over the past 20 years. Their contributions have been so significant to the survival of the league that the board of directors voted to change its name, unveiling the new banner — Whitney Basketball League — to thunderous applause.

"They are the reason why we're all here," said league official James Cunningham. "Without them, there wouldn't have been basketball for girls. Instead, I would have had to go to dancing recitals and skating demonstrations. Thank God for you guys," he continued, to laughter.

Choking back tears, Margaret Whitney thanked everyone for recognizing the work her husband had done. "Because he does not want the recognition, he never wanted to be out in the limelight ... but I can't tell you how much it means to me to have him thanked in this way.

"He has put his heart and soul into this and every minute has been worth it ... ."

It was two decades ago that the Whitneys and Rick Bush established a league that would allow their daughters to play. They would remain involved long after their own girls were grown, providing a solid grounding in the sport that would feed into the champion Drury High School teams. Girls from the city, Clarksburg and Stamford, Vt., and later Williamstown, would learn team work and sportsmanship and forge friendships.

DeSanty would go on to play four years at Drury High School, including on its Western Mass. championship team, then at Colby-Sawyer College. She's now assistant coach for women's basketball at Williams College.

And while her parents drove many miles to watch her play, it was the Whitneys who would "pave my life path."

"My life would have been entirely different if not for Myles and Margaret," she said. "For me, basketball started here with baby steps and it's taken me for miles."

DeSanty's sentiments have been shared by the hundreds of young girls who have played in the league over the years under the watchful eyes of the Whitneys. In a letter read by league official Glenn Boyer, former player Lauren Hobbie-Welch told how she once had dreamed of Michael Jordan walking through the gym doors only to realize "the people who really mattered walking though those gym doors were Margaret and Myles ... they were the ones to see our potential."
 
Mayor John Barrett III told the Whitneys that the city would provide $1,000 toward the new Whitney Basketball League in honor of their devotion. Communities thrive when their citizens get involved not just to make a difference for today but for future generations, said Barrett, and that's what the Whitneys have done in providing an outlet for the area's young girls.

"They saw a need in this community," he said. "They've left their fingerpirints all over this community."

State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams, lauded the Whitneys for establishing a platform that has provided opportunities for girls and minorities in many regions. "They have done this because they love basketball, because they love the community, because they love the girls. They've done it for all the right reasons."

Bosley presented them with some Massachusetts shirts and promised a House citation as soon as he could bring it back from Boston.

Myles Whitney said he appreciated the support over the years from the mayor, his fellow officials, teammates and especially, the parents.

"It's so much fun working with the kids," he said. "Thank you for being so supportive of basketball and North Adams. I hope it goes on and on ... and you can name it for someone else later on."

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