On the ball

HOLLIDAYSBURG - Charlie Aeschliman knows how to handle a basketball.

Twisting, turning, spinning, rolling both himself and the ball - Aeschliman sent a message to Foot of Ten Elementary School students Wednesday morning with an assembly showcasing his skills as the Nike National Basketball Handling Champion while teaching them about character.

Foot of Ten guidance counselor Christina Straub said the topic of this year's character education is citizenship.

Aeschliman was brought to the school through the National Character Education Foundation, which partially funded the program.

Fourth-grader Eric Farabaugh said his favorite part was the entire show.

He learned to "never give up," he said.

"I'm going to go after my dreams," the 10-year-old said. "I have so many."

"Clap if you like it," Aeschliman requested as he performed stunts such as rolling the ball from one outstretched arm, over his shoulders and down his other arm to upbeat music.

"You will trip, stumble, fall," he said. "At some point, we all temporarily fail."

He said he dropped the basketball plenty of times before he mastered his handling skills.

"I fought past the frustration and the embarrassment of failing," he said.

He gave examples of how basketball star Michael Jordan did not make his freshman basketball team and how Abraham Lincoln lost six elections before becoming president.

He said the common thread was that while they failed, they never gave up.

A 10-year Navy SEAL veteran and one-time top instructor, Aeschliman persevered through training exercises - such as having his hands and feet bound and being thrown in water and swimming five miles in the frigid ocean - to graduate at the top of his class.

Aeschliman said he went into SEAL training with the attitude that he was either going to graduate or leave on a stretcher.

"You have to have that never-quit mentality," he said after the assembly.

Mirror Staff Writer Amanda Clegg is at 949-7030.