Eight-year-old Patrick Alderman has been a Tullahoma High School Wildcat fan for as long as he can remember.
“Ever since I was born,” Patrick said, without exaggeration.
Patrick, who attends Roberson Elementary School, has attended Tullahoma High School (THS) athletic events since he could walk. He started on the football field as a 2-year-old, tagging along with his father, Stephen Alderman, who serves as one of the team’s character coaches.
Patrick soon made an appearance courtside at basketball games as well.
His mother, Katie Alderman, teaches health science in the CTE program at THS, and many of her students are on the team. This year, she had five of the seven senior boys and both senior girls on the basketball team in her health science program. She said it’s important to the Alderman family to be present for games and show support.
In recent years, Patrick has even been given a special job for the team — he retrieves balls that go out of bounds near the stands during warmups and tosses them back to players. After games, he positions himself behind the bench and high-fives every single player as they head to the locker room. Patrick stays observant throughout games and warmups, learning as much as he can about the game.
“I pay attention to the mistakes,” Patrick said. “Like if somebody stole the ball, or if someone’s running at you, you do a crossover to make them go past you.”
He is also intentional about offering encouragement when the team loses. Katie said that after the state tournament loss this past season, she and Patrick made sure to be there to let them know they had support.
“We waited for them to come out,” Katie said. “We got to greet them all, we hugged them, and we told them we were really proud of them. We thanked them for what a great season they’d had and for letting Patrick be a part of it.”
Katie and Stephen say they are so impressed by these teenage boys, who are much older than Patrick but treat him like one of the team.
“They don’t have to be that kind to him. They’re busy. They’re focused, they take their game seriously,” Katie said. “They don’t have to take the time to include him or make him feel welcome, and they just always have.”
This past season, after the Wildcats won their district matchup, a group of those players gave up their Friday night to watch Patrick play in a Junior NBA recreation league game for his team, the Washington Wizards. Patrick did not know they were coming, but he said seeing them in the stands cheering him on made him feel “kind of special.”
Patrick remembers a specific moment from that night that meant a lot to him: He had made two free throws during his game, and senior Alex Bobo called out from the stands.
“He said, ‘We gotta do what this kid does to swish,’” Patrick said.
Some of the players who encouraged and mentored Patrick this year were Sam and Alex Bobo, Jayden Thompson, Austin Tinnon, Andrew Carmack, and Gage Allen. Katie said they have all been amazing and that there have been wonderful players who have rallied around Patrick every season for years. Head Coach Welch and the assistant coaches have also been incredibly welcoming.
“He has been fortunate to have grown up with so many accepting teams and accepting players,” Katie said. “And there are a lot of coaches that would shut that down. We’re fortunate to have wonderful coaches who can see the value in it.”
For his part, Patrick takes his courtside education seriously and offers what wisdom he can when the opportunity arises. When the team is struggling after a tough loss, his advice is straightforward.
“Hey, it’s OK,” he said. “We can move on, forget about that, and just keep rolling.”
THS’s boys basketball team is passing down a legacy of compassion and mentorship that continues to inspire the Aldermans each year.
“We’re fortunate to have had coaches for much of Tullahoma’s history [who] really try to build good men. Not necessarily just to win the games, but really focused on investing in these players as a whole.” GN
