Without the audio version, the players began to belt out the National Anthem themselves before the game.
Before tip-off at the Moorestown High School versus Haddonfield Memorial High School girls varsity basketball game, on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 11:30 a.m., players from both teams came together to demonstrate a profound sense of patriotism when they were left without an audio version of the National Anthem. Thinking on their feet, the girls chose to belt out the musical composition themselves, adhering to the national-wide sporting event tradition.
After lining up on the court and waiting several minutes for the playing of the school’s National Anthem CD to commence, confusion swept the audience as everyone began wondering why the music had not yet started to play. Eventually, the announcer yelled to the crowd that the sound system seemed to not be functioning properly.
While the players were faced with several options, including having to wait for someone to address the audio issue or possibly bypass the singing of the National Anthem altogether, the players put competition aside and joined together in song. Not long after, each team’s coaches and the entire crowd joined them.
“With each player’s’ voice, the singing caught on and the crowd joined in,” seventh-year head coach of the MHS girls basketball team, Chris Hill, said. “Needless to say, I was proud to be a part of such patriotism among our youth and in our community.”
Standing behind Hill during the moment the singing first broke out, Haddonfield head coach Jackie Mulligan recalls first hearing girls from MHS leading the anthem. Then, upon looking at her own team, she saw her players had also joined in.
“I was proud of [my team]. They know the importance of the National Anthem being played before each game and stood together to sing,” Mulligan said. “South Jersey basketball is a great community, and it was a unique moment that [my team] shared with the Moorestown players. I am sure it will be an event that sticks out in their memory in future years.”
By the conclusion of the game, Haddonfield had defeated Moorestown, 39–31, handing the Quakers their first loss of the season. However, after coming together in a display of patriotism and sportsmanship before the game’s start, everyone could have walked out of Moorestown’s Isenberg gym that afternoon feeling good about what they had witnessed before the game.
