From over two months of planning by the National Honor Society, to the trash talking between the seniors and staff the week before, and finally to tip-off, the annual Swofford Game is always an anticipated event that the students and staff wait for at Liberty. However, it’s not only about the trash talking and the gameplay, it’s about why the game is even a thing in the first place.

Scott Swofford was a well known Timberland and Holt High School football coach who suddenly passed away in 2000 due to a heart attack. In memoriam of his passing, Swofford’s wife, Runa Swofford created the Scott Swofford Memorial Scholarship, which recognizes two seniors from every Wentzville School District School with a $1,000 scholarship. Mrs. Swofford reads over all the applicants’ entries and chooses the winners, which are announced at the Wentzville School District Scholarships Night that is being held on May 4 at 7 p.m. at North Point High School.

Coach Scott Swofford was an influential health and physical education teacher, football and track coach and beloved role model at Wentzville Holt High School for many years. Shortly before Coach Swofford’s death in September of 2000, he transferred his talents to Wentzville’s newly constructed Timberland High School. To honor Coach Swofford’s life and his strong beliefs in pursuing academic excellence, his family, colleagues, and students established this memorial scholarship.

The Annual Scott Swofford Memorial Scholarship Basketball games are held to generate money (tickets, t-shirts, and donations) for the annual scholarship fund. Members of the teaching staff and members of the senior class face off in a fun-filled basketball game to raise money to carry on Coach Swofford’s school spirit. The scholarship award will be divided into two equal payments for the first two semesters of college. The first award will be given directly to the student at Honors Night. Thereafter, the second installment of The Scott Swofford Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to the recipients after they submit proof of post-secondary academic success to Mrs. Swofford. A minimum of two recipients per high school will be selected, but the total number could vary based on funding.

For 26 years, the Swofford game has been played at every Wentzville school, starting with Timberland and Holt and once Liberty and North Point were built, both schools quickly took on the annual tradition. The annual Swofford game at Liberty however is a little different than the other three schools. First, its planned and hosted by the Liberty National Honor Society advised by College and Career Counselor Michelle Gerringer. All of the other three high schools host their games after school in the evening letting families and students come to the school to watch the big game. However, Liberty hosts their game during the school day, in hopes to have more student interaction with Mrs. Swofford and the foundation.

“We’re the only ones that do it during the day. Everybody else has it as an evening event that they try to get families to come to,” Gerringer said. “We did it that way for the first couple of years here, and we really felt like the attendance was a bit low, and it our goal was to really install it as a tradition we wanted more students to be able to see it.”

However, although each school has a different way of commemorating the game, it all leads back to Scott Swofford and the work he did for not only the schools but the community. One thing that both Swofford’s cherish and what Runa Swofford uses to make her decisions with who gets the scholarship, is their faith. She wants to be able to make a connection with the students’ faith and understand it is important to them.

“After she narrows things down a little bit, she prays over all of the scholarship applications, and that’s what helps guide her decisions,” Gerringer said.

This scholarship not only impacts Runa Swofford and her family, but it also the students and staff that play in the game. Van Kozlowski (12), the head coach for the seniors team, knows that this game is more than just a game, and that it impacts every single person in the community.

“It means a lot because I have a chance to be apart of something bigger than me and for a cause,” Kozlowski said. “It shows how important and special this game is around the Wentzville School District.”

While the annual Scott Swofford game is a big hit in the community each year, with everyone looking forward to it, the high hopes of the seniors finally beating the teachers which they didn’t do this year as the teachers won 51-24 on April 16, and the trash talking that happens weeks before, it creates a lifestyle for the game.

Although, the Swofford game isn’t about the score or the trash talking, it’s about why we play it, why it’s such a big deal. It’s not a game. It’s more than a game.