Valley athletes can hold their heads high

The Platte Valley fall sports season ended with all kinds of results. Cross Country placed second in the state. Our football team did not make it to the post season. The Saratoga Lady Panther Volleyball team had a great season, made it to regionals and fought hard to stay in. With the luck of the draw, they played the toughest teams in the conference, but they didn’t give up. To take Pine Bluffs to five sets is a real accomplishment.

The Encampment Lady Tigers Volleyball team still have their season to finish with state coming up this week.

Let’s not forget our middle school players either. Encampment’s junior high volleyball team took home the tournament trophy home for the second year in a row.

With all of the successes some teams had this year, we need to focus on the fact that these kids played their hearts out this season.

The only teams I didn’t get to watch this season were the high school football team and the cross country team.

The scores of the first four football games didn’t tell the real story though.

When your team is losing 50 something to 0, the easy thing to do is give up. Our high school football players did not give up. They kept working hard and that paid off in the end, when they had two wins – and they had integrity. When they were winning by a wide spread, the football coach gave the bench time on the field to give them experience rather than running up the scoreboard.

That is character—and it teaches our children that experience is more important than running up the scoreboard.

The cross country team was the largest group of athletes it has been in years. They even had a girls team this year. For most of us, me included, running for pleasure is just not in the cards. I never experienced the euphoria that runners claim to have when running. I had one athlete tell me he wished the season lasted longer.

When school started this fall, I met Jeremy Detterer for the first time. I told him, “I though you were taller.” He said everybody tells him that. Jeremy is such a fast runner that people, including me, assumes he is tall and lanky.

When I photographed the middle school football team, it was a losing game for them. In fact, it was 0-32. But the athletes were still listening to their coaches, still running onto the field with enthusiasm and supporting each other on the field.

When I went to watch the middle school volleyball game between Saratoga and Encampment, I originally went to take a few photos and call it a night. I stayed through all the sets because they were so exciting to watch, as the two teams worked hard to take the win.

The Saratoga Lady Panthers had a great season this year. They worked hard and you could see it on the court. When they were talking to each other they played well – when they got over focused on the game and forgot to talk to each other, they would make mistakes. But then they realized what was happening and corrected it.

Saratoga has struggled in the 2A conference from the beginning. It is a tough conference for a small school to compete in. Now that they are making a name for themselves in the 2A conference, they are going back to 1A next year.

The teams I covered this season where the Saratoga Golf team and the Lady Tigers Volleyball team.

I love to play golf, but I am really bad at it. I only got to watch the team play once in Rawlins. That is a tough course, but I saw the respect they had for their opponents – something I did not see returned to them. As the coach and I watched how the other teams members crowded up against the person golfing or walked across the green between the ball and the pin, I cringed. The coach remarked he teaches his athletes not to do that. What impressed me most is the fact our team players didn’t go berserk over it, they played the best they could despite the error.

I have been reporting on the Lady Tigers for the past several years. I have watched these girls grow up on and off the court. Three of these girls are my neighbors.

They have a bond that is closer than most siblings. They all support each other off and on the court. They celebrate each other successes and support each other during their failures.

The Encampment gym is always packed with supporters. Even people who don’t have children playing are there to support the Tigers. The girls always show their appreciation to the crowd after their game by singing their school song.

When I watch the local teams play each other, I root for both teams. I want them both to succeed.

Win or lose, all of these athletes had a great season – because they were out there on the field, in the court or on the course pushing themselves to do the absolute best.

We should be proud that we have such a great group of athletes in our Valley.