Sports Beat

Posted 3/17/21

Twelve months ago, the scholastic sporting world in Texas began holding its breath. The big question on everyone’s mind was: could we count on having a football season in the fall? All spring sports had just been ceased. Even the UIL state basketball tournament was stopped, in one case during a finals game.

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There is much which could be written about the 2020-21 scholastic sports season. A few words may be warranted to capture a couple of teaching moments which have been provided through the competition of our sons and daughters this school year. 

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Sports Beat

Posted

Twelve months ago, the scholastic sporting world in Texas began holding its breath. The big question on everyone’s mind was: could we count on having a football season in the fall? All spring sports had just been ceased. Even the UIL state basketball tournament was stopped, in one case during a finals game.  

As the summer drew on, the ravages of the coronavirus on our older population took hold, and the situation was exacerbated by the lack of understanding of the disease. Who to believe and who not to became a real issue. 

In the absence of a technical understanding (or effective communication of that technical understanding) of the disease, the Texas sporting world began to shape precautions for the fall. In retrospect, they were all very common-sense measures, which could have been used against any communicable disease.  

With a lot of finger-crossing, we began to play football and run cross country and play volleyball. There were oddities, like the larger schools delaying the start of their seasons or tickets having to be purchased in advance, but it worked. Play had commenced.

Schools, coaches, teams and communities adjusted as needed to make fall sports happen. There were certainly issues. Many schools had competitions cancelled or rescheduled. At one point Alba-Golden played out their football season on a Saturday, a Wednesday and a Monday.  Mineola was the only school in their district that played all their scheduled games. It was a challenging time.

We were rewarded with a sports season. The success of fall sports gave a boost to the winter sports of basketball, soccer and powerlifting. Now we are once again at a change of sports seasons, with the action moving to the track and the ballparks. 

There is much which could be written about the 2020-21 scholastic sports season. A few words may be warranted to capture a couple of teaching moments which have been provided through the competition of our sons and daughters this school year. 

A JV game.

In a sparsely-attended gymnasium in the later stages of a boys junior varsity game, the play had become a little out of control. As can happen, end-to-end play resulted in some crazy sequences. Not too far removed from football season, the boys demonstrated some rough edges.

It did not help the environment that the two schools (and likely the two communities) weren’t the best of friends. Everyone just wanted the game to finish without any unfortunate fireworks. 

It looked like the game would indeed play out, when, while closing on a loose ball at midcourt, two opposing players had a head-on collision. One didn’t have to see the collision, if you were in the gym, you heard it. 

The two young players were both sprawled out at midcourt, and the gym was silent. As the respective trainers went to work, and the youngsters both were sat up on the floor, a singular steady, deep voice came out of the visitor’s bleachers.

“We all appreciate both you boys.” It filled the gym. What tension there had been in the gym was relieved by this simple call. To the man who saw fit to express a common appreciation for all who compete – thank you. 

A cold soccer match.

It was after the winter storms, but it was still winter. Late in the match, with a significant north wind blowing, it was mighty chilly. That wind was blowing directly in one end zone and out the other end. 

The two teams were playing in a typical soccer environment: a huge largely-empty stadium. There were five fans on the visitors’ side and about 30 in the home stands. 

It was a great match. There was amazing effort, changing tactics and some real talent on display. The home side was down by two goals late in the game.

A long ball ahead was being chased down by a home team striker and a visiting team defender. The chase ended in the furthest corner of the end zone.  

The ball went out of play just as the home side striker fell to the ground in obvious agony. This was not a photo-op, I put my camera down. 

While looking to see if the trainers were on their way, an amazing thing happened. The opposing team defender approached his opponent and calmly asked him which leg and specifically which muscles had cramped on him. 

He then straightened the player on the ground and picked up his foot, placed it on his chest and began to stretch the leg to relieve the cramping. The whole time, the defender talked to the injured player, in a calm, reassuring voice. 

I had watched these two guys compete like banshees for over an hour, and in a single moment, they provided an astonishing example of sportsmanship. 

Yes, we had sports this year. Thank God that we did. We need it.