Mr. School Spirit

To some folks being a sports fan means going to the occasional game and cheering when your team does something spectacular. But to Bryant Hornet fan, Joe Wishard, it’s much more than that.

Mr. School Spirit, as Wishard has come to be known, has a lifetime love for athletics, and more importantly, for young people. “As a teenager in high school, I liked anything that had to do with B-A-L-L. I played basketball, football, tennis, and baseball. I’ve been a Thornton Red Devil and a Fordyce Red Bug as an athlete, and a Reddie from Henderson as a fan. I also attended SAU Tech in East Camden and played basketball as a Varmint.”

Shortly after college, he took a position with St. Vincent Health System, where he has been for 39 years. A few years ago Wishard began to think about building on his associate degree and getting a BS in Construction Management at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which he completed in 2012. So once again at 63, Wishard became a diehard fan; this time a Trojan.

Wishard first became involved in the Bryant School District as PTO president for Salem Elementary where his son Paul attended school. It wasn’t long before Wishard expanded his role in the community through service with the Bryant Chamber of Commerce, first as a member, then a board member, and finally president of the board.

To say Wishard loves his community, young people and sports would be an understatement, and when you combine all three, you get one extraordinary fan. “I went to school in a small town and if there was a sporting event going on at school, the seats were full and the fans made noise the entire time.” Wishard hopes we will develop that kind of culture in our community here at Bryant. “It is our responsibility as fans to show that we care about these young people by making noise the whole game, not only when something spectacular happens. Regardless what walk of life you are from, or if you have kids or not, this is your hometown and these youngsters need all of us to cheer for them.” Every Hornet game, you’ll find Wishard pacing on the sidelines or outside the end zone rooting for one of his favorite groups of young people. “I don’t sit down when I am at a football game.”

Although Wishard has always had a love for sports and the desire to be involved in the lives of young people in our community, his loyalty to the Bryant football program began on a very personal level. “I really got to be a Hornet fan when my son, Paul, was in the 10th grade. He was sitting in the stands beside me on Senior Night and saw the players walk on the field with their parents. He said, ‘When I’m a senior, I am going to walk on that field. Now Paul never played sports because he had problems with asthma when he was young, but the next year, he went out for the team. Paul went through all the drills the coaches asked him to do then on the last drill, he realized he was losing his breath and began to head to the field house.”

With the advice and encouragement of his mom, Kathryn Wishard, Paul went back to practice to talk to then head coach, Darryl Patton. Coach Patton told him if he went through the season as manager, learned about football and practiced with the football players during the week, he could have another chance next season. “My son never missed a practice, never missed a game. He got a uniform when he was a senior. When it got to be Senior Night, his mom and I walked with him down that field. I told Coach Patton how much I appreciated what he did for my son.”

The coaches instilled life lessons in Wishard’s son that are learned from being part of a team. Those lessons will last long after the days of playing football are over. This young man had coaches that taught and nurtured him, and cared about him as an individual.

That was 12 years ago and to this day, Wishard still believes in the individuality of each player and the quality coaching staff at Bryant. “The Bryant coaches are the best I’ve ever seen about not only teaching the game of football but also about teaching those young people about life. I know that they are individuals that come from all walks of life and have all types of situations and things to deal with in their young lives. When those individuals are part of a team and are inside those lines, they are a part of something extraordinary.”

Wishard concludes, “My perspective about how our stadium looks and the excitement shown at a home football game should be the same as if every game were the Salt Bowl.”