Juvenile Correctional Basketball Team Surprised By Private School’s Support

The Gainesville Tornadoes is a different type of high school team: it is for boys convicted of a felony crime. In Gainesville, Texas, a juvenile correctional facility offers a chance to play basketball against private schools. To take part in this opportunity, the inmates need to be on their best possible behavior at the prison. As a result, they are allowed to leave the grounds for a few scheduled games against various schools in the area.

Still, even when they get to go to these games, they have very little support: as most of their parents are too busy and their imprisonment limits their fan base. So two student athletes at Vanguard College Prep in Waco decided to change that. With the help of the student body, they designated two separate fan sections: one where Vanguard students would cheer on the Gainesville team. The students even created signs and a cheerleading squad to support the Tornadoes.

This is simply a heartwarming story wonderfully reported by CBS Sunday Morning news. It clearly made a difference for these imprisoned athletes. “I’m probably going to remember this for the rest of my life,” a Tornado player stated.