How Does the Lions Club support the Paso Robles Community?
62 athletes from 27 of the PRHS sports parade across a stage in May of 2024 to have a gold and blue medal representing leadership and commitment hung around their neck. Facing a crowd of parents, teammates and dedicated coaches, each student athlete is awarded the Lion’s Club Scholar Athlete Award. Celebrating not just leadership from student athletes, the 37 members of the Lion’s club strive to inspire the future leadership of Paso Robles, a role that has a lasting influence on our community.
The Lions Club extends beyond the PRHS campus, supporting the community of Paso Robles since 1939.
Overall as an international club, the Lions club serves with a purpose.
One of their mission statements says, “Lions serve their local communities in so many ways, and we’re uniting to serve key global causes and special initiatives to address some of the greatest challenges facing our world today”.
The club has served 200 countries and regions around the world and has received $1.2 billion in grants to fund their services.
The purpose behind the Lions Club Association is to “serve a world in need. One act of kindness at a time”.
In the local community, the Lions Club has donated and funded the horseshoe pit downtown, the War Memorial Flag Pole, the original BBQ Pits downtown, eye testing at elementary schools, Halloween Downtown, Christmas Parades and more.
Fundraisers including auctions, garage sales and barbeques enabled Lions Club International to donate back to the community.
On the PRHS campus, the Lions club award represents the accomplishments of student athletes, awarding those that stand out as extraordinary team leaders.
The Sportsmanship award, started 1946 after WWII, was created not to represent the athlete that performed the best but instead the athlete who was a leader on the team.
“The top athletes of any team were the ones that got the recognition, but we were after the people that represented sportsmanship, fairness, all around a good person,” Nick Sherwin, 30 year Lions Club member and three time Lions Club President said.
To recognize these players, the one rule for voting is that coaches can not have any influence on the decisions, the recipient of the award is to be voted by the team.
Women’s Water Polo coach, math teacher, and ASB government advisor, Kelly Bellew recognizes that the award means something more coming from the team
“I think it is a really big honor to be picked by your teammates as the person that represents sportsmanship, ethic, and team spirit,” Bellew said.
As she coaches water polo, Bellew notices the positive impact that leaders of her sports teams have.
“They are the people that help out whenever, without being asked. They are the people that support younger or newer members. And they’re the type of person that everyone wants to be around,” she said.
Whether it is on the court, course, field or in the pool, PRHS Lions Club recipients are celebrated throughout their community for their encouragement, leadership and determination.
In Sherwins eyes, the recipients of this award are the people that will continue to lead their community.
"The majority of those people that have won the award have gone on to decent careers. And those people are the people who we want front and forward in our community.”
Following in the footsteps of Gil Asa, Ivan Huff and Scholarly Athlete Award Winners, these bearcats are seen as the future of Paso Robles.