:format(webp)){kind=logo}
:format(webp))
The National High School Spirit of Sport Award is annually conferred to eight section recipients as well as one national recipient. The recipient must be an individual from a high school that is a member of an NFHS-member athletic or activity association.
:format(webp))
Jayden Bailey, a basketball player from Lebanon (Tennessee) High School, who sadly passed away in February after a four-year battle with cancer, has been selected as the 2026 national recipient of the “National High School Spirit of Sport Award” by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Bailey was a promising basketball player in middle school in 2022 when he was initially diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his shoulder – a bone cancer that originates in the cells and represents about three percent of all childhood cancers, according to the American Cancer Society. After 39 weeks of chemotherapy treatment cost Bailey his entire eighth-grade basketball season, he was determined to return to the hardwood and the game he loved.
As he began his freshman year at Lebanon, Bailey and his family were optimistic about his prognosis. He made the school’s basketball team and was a valuable player on the varsity squad by his sophomore year.
However, in December 2024, during a game early in his sophomore season, Bailey lost feeling in his left arm and was unable to lift it. He managed the pain and continued to play basketball, learning to shoot with just his right arm.
Doctors told Bailey the cancer had returned to his arm and was growing fast. They weren’t sure how long Bailey had to live and recommended hospice care. He had other plans. Amazingly, Bailey was able to return to school and the basketball court to finish his sophomore season.
His junior year began with more uncertainty. With his left arm still causing a significant amount of pain, the decision was made to amputate it. And, despite the pain relief, the cancer continued to spread – this time to Bailey’s stomach. And unfortunately, because of the location, there wasn't anything doctors could do.
Nonetheless, Bailey kept playing basketball. Even with one arm, he made the varsity team and started each morning at 6:45 a.m. in the gym with his coach, Jim McDowell, doing shooting drills to hone his shot. He continued to do what he loves and provide inspiration even given just weeks to live.
“It’s hard to have bad days with him around,” McDowell said prior to Bailey’s death. “His personality and mindset are contagious.”
Bailey continued to suit up for Lebanon through December. Nearly four years after his initial diagnosis, Bailey passed away February 17, 2026.
:format(webp))
:format(webp))