After being awarded the Spirit of the Game by the Idaho High School Activities Association last summer, Lakeland High graduate Shane Maland hasn’t stopped showing his enthusiasm for sports.

Now a freshman at North Idaho College, Maland has found himself in a familiar situation as a manager within the athletic department.

Maland is currently a manager for the NIC men’s basketball team. He also filmed some home matches for the volleyball team, and also continues to help out at Lakeland.

“Coach (Jared) Phay was the one that brought me here,” Maland said. “I liked where the college was and wanted to be able to focus on school and not work right away. I still announce a little bit (at Lakeland). I’m really trying not to spread myself too thin and concentrate on school.”

Maland, 20, met Phay while attending a game at Falls Christian, where Maland was a student and where Phay coached before coming to NIC.

“I used to go out and watch the games in Post Falls and met him through that,” Phay said. “Marsell Colbert knew him from when he coached there and introduced me. After that, any NIC game Shane could make, he would be there.”

While a student at Lakeland High, Maland served as manager of the football and basketball teams all four years and the softball team as a senior.

“I was always on the road,” Maland said. “I didn’t do well on any of my tests, but I managed to get by.”

Maland struggled to maintain good grades, but eventually found a balance between the two after coming to NIC.

“I took a lot of hard classes in high school,” said Maland of his low grades. “Math killed me. I wanted to go to college closer to home and go to a place where I didn’t have to work so I could focus on my grades.”

They’ve since improved.

“I’ve done a lot better,” Maland said. “I did OK as a senior, but wasn’t sure how I’d do this year.”

While at Lakeland, Maland was almost like former boys basketball coach and current athletic director Trent Derrick’s shadow.

“He was my right- hand man for those four years,” Derrick said. “He’ll still come around and help me out when I’m in a bind. Whether it’s a game or helping run a tournament, he’s a very reliable person. I could always count on him. Shane is a one-of-a-kind kid. He works hard and is not intimidated to do anything. He’s a pretty neat kid.”

Maland was a teacher’s aide for Derrick at Lakeland.

“He’d come into my office four or five times a day,” Derrick said. “He was always asking questions about whatever we had going on. He’s a very thorough person.”

When Lakeland hosts the 3A District 1 volleyball and basketball tournaments, organizers often make sure Maland is available.

“They always want to know if he’ll be around,” Derrick said. “Whether it is setting up everything, sweeping the floor or a question about the scoreboard — he’s usually on top of it.”

For those efforts, Maland was awarded the Spirit of the Game Award in August.

“It was definitely cool to get it,” Maland said. “I was kind of nervous standing in front of that many people. It was the first time that the school had gotten an award like that. There was a lot of important people that kind of caught me off guard. But it was definitely a cool experience.”

“It was a neat award,” Derrick said. “Even down there, he was talking to all the Hall of Fame inductees. Shane’s a neat kid and has a lot going for him. I see all kinds of good things in his future.”

Maland did get on the court once for the boys basketball team in its senior night game last season against Lake City.

“We had an agreement that if I managed every year, I could play on senior night,” Maland said. “It was pretty cool.”

“Shane came to every practice all four years,” Derrick said. “He tried out every year, but with his skill set, didn’t make the team. But all of our fans knew how hard he worked for us and we knew that if he maintained all the state regulations and got his 10 practices in, he could play on senior night. We put him in to say he donned a Lakeland uniform. It was a neat night, no doubt about it.”

After a few shots, Maland hit a jumper for his only high school points of his career.

“It felt pretty good,” Maland said. “Even though we got killed in the game, it pumped everyone up. It was nice to get into a game finally.”

Maland has adapted and taken on a bigger role at NIC.

“There’s a whole lot more expected of you,” Maland said. “It’s been hard. From running the scoreboard to filming, there’s a lot more to know. But I get to see a lot more of the games.”

Maland credits Derrick with helping directing him toward NIC.

“Trent had a big part in it,” Maland said. “I’d been coming to games here for five years and knew coach Phay. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but coach Derrick and coach (Will) Havercroft really mentored me.”

Derrick added that Maland was looking at some other Division I schools.

“He talked about being a manager somewhere after high school,” Derrick said. “He’s really not intimidated to talk to anyone. He was talking to coaches from some big-time programs asking if they needed a manager. I got to thinking — just what kind of a kid would do that? Who would call a Division I coach and ask if they need a manager? But the thing about Shane is, he’s not inhibited by anyone. He feels if something needs to get done, he’ll do it.”

Maland has fit right in to the Cardinal program.

“When he came to us and wanted to be a manager, we jumped at the opportunity,” Phay said. “He’s been great. He’s a really reliable and dependable person. When you ask him to do something, you know it will be done. He’s almost like an NIC athletics department manager with everything he’s involved in. If you ask him — you know he’ll do it.”