Cheering disappears from the stands as halftime ends.
So does people’s fun.
Students are seen pouring out of the stands, waiting for the line down the stairs to simmer. As students file out of the WHS Roo Stadium, some decide to stay. What’s left at our varsity football games for these loyal students to stay?
The company of their friends.
Not the “talent” of our players.
Take a moment to observe WHS. How many trophies do you see proudly displayed on the walls? Only a few. That’s because they’re all crammed together in a small hallway, out of sight for most.
They’re all in the gym area, lined up against a plain, white wall. How does this showcase our school spirit if only a select few can see our hard-earned trophies? How can we expect someone who doesn’t have PE to venture across the bare halls to see the accolades our school has earned?
This lack of visibility for our trophies is a missed opportunity to foster school spirit. We should be proud that our school is good enough to win trophies, and we should celebrate all our sports achievements. Hiding our trophies doesn’t change that our football team hasn’t won anything in over 10 years. It’s time to change that.
Our football team was last recognized when Raymond Schoneke played in the Super Bowl and presented his golden football to us. We didn’t earn or win this award, but it’s our most recent one. The most recent trophy I’ve seen in our school, hidden away in a bland corner inside a hallway scarce of kids, was in 2005. Nineteen years of what? No football.
Our school can do better.
Thankfully, we have other Incredible sports teams, like our softball team. Under the leadership of Head Coach Jeff Lemons, our team has won a state championship, a team we should all celebrate.
And along with softball, we have our baseball team, coached by Nick McBride.
“We have a very talented group this year that I can see doing wonderful things for Weatherford High School and wherever their careers take them after,” McBride said. “It brings an unfathomable amount of joy coaching kids that will go onto the next level, whether college or professional baseball.”
McBride said that baseball has given him everything and answered his childhood dreams.
“So, seeing others be able to fulfill their dreams is the reason why I chose to get into the profession,” he said.
Baseball awards may be the next case we fill, or it may take another 20 years.
Maybe in the next few years we will find out, look around today, see how many trophy cases you pass by. And if you pass by a case, how many footballs do you see inside?