Basketball remains Bolton’s favored sport
RUSSELLVILLE — For Jason Bolton, Belgreen High School athletics has never just been about the scoreboards. It has been about people, routines and friendships built around the game.
A 2007 graduate of BHS, Bolton has spent years supporting athletics at both Belgreen and Tharptown, assisting coaches during games, working concession stands and traveling with teams.
“When I think of Belgreen, I think of Jason Bolton,” said Bart Moss, principal of Phil Campbell High School and former principal at Tharptown High School.
Moss said Bolton’s longtime involvement with athletics has made him recognizable well beyond Belgreen.
“Even teams Belgreen plays a lot, like Hackleburg or Russellville, people know him,” Moss said.
Bolton’s involvement with athletics has helped him build relationships with coaches and players throughout the Belgreen community.
Chad Green, girls basketball coach, said he first met Bolton shortly after graduating from college while coaching junior high boys at Belgreen. Bolton was in ninth grade at the time and served as a team manager.
“He goes out to eat with us and he goes to coaches’ meetings,” Green said. “He’s very well involved.”
Bolton said his interest in basketball started in second grade after encouragement from Elyse Yancey Aldridge, who was an older student at Belgreen at the time.
Aldridge said Bolton quickly became a familiar presence around Belgreen basketball.
“He came to the high school games,” said Aldridge, now assistant principal at Haleyville Elementary. “He came to some of my college games, too. He just kind of locked onto basketball and latched onto it, and he’s been around it ever since. He’s very enthusiastic and supportive and knows how to make people feel included and appreciated.”
Aldridge said Bolton has stayed connected to many of the people and teams he met through basketball over the years.
Bolton said he first became involved with athletics as a manager helping with games, including carrying water and other tasks. His role has grown over the years. Bolton said he helps with a variety of responsibilities during games, including assisting coaches, helping around the gym and working concessions when needed.
Before games, Bolton gives Green a hand-drawn basketball play diagram. Green said the tradition has become part of the routine for the Lady Bulldogs.
“He’s our number one fan,” Green said.
Players and coaches have grown used to seeing Bolton around practices, games and team trips. “They just expect Jason to be there,” Green said.
Over time, those routines and relationships became an important part of Bolton’s daily life.
Marty Guidry, pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Hodges and a former Belgreen coach, said Bolton handles responsibilities that help teams operate smoothly.
“We so many times think people contribute by doing big things, but it’s the little things behind the scenes that make the biggest impact, and that’s been Jason’s role,” Guidry said.
Bolton’s mother, Virginia, said athletics helped give her son a sense of connection from an early age.
Moss said his enthusiasm, commitment and dedication set him apart. Guidry spoke to Bolton’s easy ability to make friends. “If he meets you one time, he considers you a friend,” Guidry said.
That influence has extended into Guidry’s own family as well. His son, Alex, chose to wear No. 10 while playing basketball and baseball because it had once been Bolton’s jersey number at Belgreen.
Bolton said his role gradually changed over the years from simply attending games to helping and then to traveling and working more closely with the teams.
Though he now also helps with Belgreen football, Bolton said basketball remains his favorite sport.
He also spends time fishing for bass and crappie at Cedar Creek Lake and other places in Franklin County. He also enjoys church camp and other church activities.
Whether he is handing Coach Green a pregame play diagram, assisting the coaches during games or working at the concession stand, Bolton said he enjoys being around the sports and people that have become such an important part of his life.
“I love Belgreen basketball and football,” Bolton said. “I love the games and the activities and all the friends I’ve made along the way. We have a lot of fun.”
