Fant a Natural Leader, In Game and Outside the Line

The phrase "captain" gets thrown around a lot on different teams. For most, the captain is a person who will lead their team in most statistical categories, have an ability to take over a game singlehandedly, and represent their team in pre-game handshakes.

At Madison High School, Aaron Fant encompassed everything that a team, school and community could ask for in their captain and more, as Fant’s athletic ability and toughness were mere compliments of his down-to-earth and team-oriented mindset.

“The kid has always come in humble and had great work ethic, but he’s just never had an overblown ego,” Madison football head coach Chris Kubik said. “He just goes out there and does his job. That’s something that he brought coming into the program.

Fant, who is headed to study and play football at Franklin & Marshall College in the fall, has accomplished much over his four years as a Dodger.

In his senior campaign alone, he helped lead the Dodgers to an undefeated record on the gridiron on their way to a state championship, as well as leading the Madison basketball team to an appearance in the seminfinals of the state tournament.

"This senior class has been playing together for so long so we know each others strengths and weaknesses," said Fant. "We have a lot of chemistry, so I guess that translated onto the court and on the field this year."

And while Fant stood a head above everyone on the field, it was on the sidelines, in practice and in the hallways and classrooms at MHS, where the Dodger star truly rose above all else.

“Captain means you’re a leader, and Aaron is through and through,” Madison head basketball coach Bill Librera said. “He just shows it day in and day out. He never acts out of character and he never does something that’s misrepresentative of what we’re trying to do as a program or as a school.”

With a professional and humble demeanor consistently trumping his all-worldly athletic ability, it’s no wonder that that Fant garners respect from everyone close to him.

“You talk about a kid who has the whole package, the whole skill set of just a great personality, a smart kid, obviously very talented athletically,” MHS Principal Greg Robertson explained. “The thing that impressed me the most about him as a star athlete in the school, is just the way that he comported himself. Always extremely respectful and always willing to help. Just a real positive influence on the underclassmen.”

With his leadership and team-first approach on display just as often as his amazing catches in the corner of the end zone and great passes on the basketball court, Fant was named MVP of the Madison basketball team by his teammates three years in a row.

“You run out of words that you can use for a kid like Aaron,” Librera said. “I remember when I took the job four years ago, people spoke about a special kid that was coming up and he just exceeded everything that people spoke about. Anything that you could ever ask of kid, he’s been that.”

When Fant was a freshman, Kubik and his staff toyed with the idea of bumping the 14-year-old to the varsity.

“We actually considered bringing him up [to varsity] his freshman year,” Kubik said. “He was one of those kids that we took a look at, but in his sophomore year, he was ready to play varsity. He just got better and stronger, and he works so hard in the weight room that he became such a physical player. That’s what made him really special out there.”

But being great on the field or court will only take a person so far, and it would appear that Fant is well aware of that. And while that may be a unique attitude for an 18-year-old, it’s not something that ever seemed forced or phony.

“He’s a very hard worker and in the classroom his priorities were in order,” Robertson said. “He understood that academics come first and he probably understood, on some level, that in order to exceed in the next level, athletics could only take him so far. He clearly had his priorities in order.”

That presence was also felt in the MHS hallways.

“All that we talk about him athletically pales in comparison to what he does in the hallway at Madison,” Librera said. “Kids revere him, and they should. He is what we teach for and what we coach for. I’m just happy that I got a chance to go side by side with him.”

That personality helped Fant get better with age. And while his coaches expected a learning curve just as they do with all of their players, Librera spoke about a single moment early in his career that foreshadowed what Fant had in store for his varsity career.

“I still remember his first varsity practice," Librera said. "I was always nervous as him coming up as a freshman, and I remember he made a pass that was turned over in practice. I said that he was probably used to a longer passing window when he was playing with kids of his own age, but it’s going to be a shorter passing window as a varsity player. I feel like the next possession down he threaded a pass better, through a smaller window to a kid for a layup, and I just knew immediately that the kid was going to have no problem acclimating to a varsity position.”

With all of the ability in the world, it’s a testament to how Fant was raised that he’s able to keep both feet on the ground, even after being selected as the lone Madison representative in the North-South All-Star Football Classic in June.

“He’s the youngest of five sons, and I guess sometimes you get one that’s really well-balanced and I just think it’s a gift that he has,” Fant’s mother, Jovita, said. “It’s a natural gift for him. He’s not limited, he’s always like, ‘I can do this’ or ‘I can do that’, so I’m just praying that he stays on the same path and that he’ll be able to do all of the things that some people think you’re limited to doing.”

Heading to Franklin & Marshall, Fant says that he hopes to earn a starting spot on the football team as a freshman. And if his four years at MHS are an indicator—with a state championship ring in his collection—he’ll probably find a way to achieve that goal as well.

"This season was great," he said. "I love helping out all of the younger guys on the team this season, and I really loved playing with all of the seniors as well. We achieved our goal of winning a state championship this year and you really can't ask for anything more."

His football coach sees more success ahead.

“I see a great career from him [at the college level],” Kubik said. “He’s the type of kid that's athletic enough and works hard enough to do very well. I expect him to definitely be a big-time player. I wouldn’t be shocked to hear about him sometime next year. The sky is the limit for him.”