Freshman Football Awards Dinner

In early January, the South County football program had its annual end-of-season banquet to celebrate the accomplishments of the year, including the varsity going 10-0 in the regular season and making it to the state semifinal before bowing out.

After the dinner, the various squads went to different places to receive their team awards. The freshmen went to the auditorium, where the coaches took turns giving certificates and remarks to each of the players in their squads.

When it came time for the defensive backs coach to present, he had some very warm and kind words about the first girl he'd ever had the chance to coach on a football squad. Here's what he had to say, and Sarah receiving her certificate from the head coach and the three assistants. She later went on to receive a Scholar Athlete certificate, for being on the team and maintaining a 3.5 GPA in the first quarter.

I can't say how everybody else felt, but it was amazing to me to see, after the parade of boys in their ties and sweaters and khakis, this beautiful young lady rise in her flowing blue dress and walk confidently to the front to accept a certificate for being a football player, the first time that's ever happened at SCHS.

Well done, Sarah, as usual--and now she's eagerly looking forward to next year's season and seeing what she can do in JV, if she can stay off the medical list. But first...lacrosse!

Merry Christmas 2015!

I have to say, it's incredibly difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when it was in the low 70s this past weekend. Coupled with the fact that this year only just began, didn't it?!? and it's hard to imagine it's time to fill everyone in on our year.

In 2015 we did something we'd never thought of before: Mary and Eric joined a local bowling league (!), where we're bowling with our friends Ken and Trish Fritzsche once a month. We tried naming our team "We're Only Here For The Beer," but that was actually already taken, which tells you about how seriously this league takes itself. So instead, "Livin' On A Spare" is in its second season now. Our social season included, as always, Chili Bowl XXI--it's old enough to drink now!--with the annual appearance from Mark "Admiral" Kolodny. This year, two new twists to the calendar: the inaugural Overlake Wine Festival in May, and then at Labor Day it was our turn to host the Overlake Court Labor Day cookout, where we savored the gorgeous weather by cooking and hanging out front. 

On the home front, 2015 saw us redo the living and dining rooms, a process which also involved relocating the wine cabinet into the kitchen, which presages the kinds of changes we hope to do in the kitchen in 2016 (and the kids' bathroom, Mary points out). As ever, we enjoyed having people come and visit and see our newly done rooms: we welcomed Uncle Rod, Jen, Monica, Courtney, and had the chance to get caught up with Chuck and Lisa Mustapich on their way through town. No major family vacations this year, but we did visit Vermont twice, once in late June and then again in August for Mary's cousin Angela's wedding, where we got to see parts of her family we've not seen in far too long.

Sarah has had a most amazing and unprecedented year. This spring, she and the girls from Troop 2349 received their Girl Scout Silver Award, which positions her for earning the highest honor, Gold Award, in the coming years. One measure of how unique she is: she completed her middle school having had a wonderful time, finishing her sixth year in AAP and surrounded by a great group of friends. The eighth grade dance--the Eight Ball--soon gave way to her first high school dance, the South County Homecoming (or SoCo HoCo) with her circle of friends, and the whole range of new experiences that come with being a freshman in high school. One that's definitely different: Sarah became the first girl ever to suit up in a South County football uniform. She announced in the spring that she wanted to go out for freshman football, and so she went to all the practices and weight sessions; Coach B recognized she was something other than the stereotypical girl kicker, and Sarah was repping at third or second string cornerback of all things. (She prefers to "put a thud on the boys" rather than be tackled herself.) However, a weight room injury in late summer led to a stress fracture of her lower back, which kept her medically ineligible all season. She stayed with it, attending every practice and game, and was cleared fully before Thanksgiving, so she's already announced her return to try for JV next year! She was also selected for Lead Four:Twelve, which will position her to be a counselor and missionary with Jeremiah Project in 2017!

David now has his sister in the same building with him for the first time since 6th grade, which has been working out really well. For him, he's now a senior and in the throes of college applications. As of now, he's applying to four, and has been accepted already at Radford University, a state school (yay!) here in VA, so stay tuned for how the other three come in. He continues to be active in South County's theatre program as the head of set design and construction, where they put on Jabberwock this fall, and the spring musical, Les Miserables, was up for a Cappie award for best set. But his big adventure was two weeks in July hiking at Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico. David and Eric were part of an 11-person crew of his fellow Scouts from Troop 688 that hiked over 100 miles and had a truly amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Mary's year was filled with work at ABI, including trips to Detroit and Delaware in addition to the annual spring meeting here in town. She also had visits to Vermont helping her folks with their major renovation of their farmhouse, where they completely redid the first floor of the old part of the house and added a new wing. She also had the chance to be present for Naomi's high school graduation in June, and earlier in the spring, to help Naomi and Monica get ready for prom. 

Eric had a full year of transitions. In the winter, he completed the exams for the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) certification, which he put to use in applying for a new job. In October, after 23 years at FBI, Eric moved across the street and was promoted to be the Deputy Director of Budget for the entire Department of Justice. It was difficult to leave the FBI after so long and with so many great people, yet the DOJ family has been incredibly welcoming and Eric's already settling in just fine. In the spring, the two praise bands he worked with (Refresh and LifeSign) both folded, around the time he was serving as the assistant coach for Sarah's lacrosse team and preparing to hike Philmont with David. That wasn't his only trip this year, as he visited San Antonio (and Shiner!) with Glenn in the spring, and had a chance to connect with Joe and Jen Siragusa in Buffalo after...well, far too long!

In 2016, our adventures will continue. David will graduate South County HS and head off to whichever college he chooses, beginning to empty our nest a little. In the summer we'll visit Ireland and tour where Mary's family comes from, to follow our Germany visit of 2010. Sarah plans to try out for lacrosse and football once again, and both will be on mission trips to Pittsburgh in the summer. But in all this, stay current with us here on the blog, and come visit or stop by! Our very best wishes for all the grace and peace of the holidays to everyone--Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016!

There's Something Different About This Year's Squad...

See if you can spot the difference in this year's South County Stallions football team:

One of these players is not like the others...

In May, on the heels of her debut in girls' lacrosse, Sarah announced that she wanted to go out for freshman football this year. While you can hardly imagine our surprise, we've been just thrilled to be able to support her making a run at it. So she went to mini-camp in June (picture above), and has been spending time in the weight room with the boys getting ready for the season. And now that it's August, she's been at practice at 6:30am each morning, learning how to play the game she's always enjoyed on TV.

For the present, she's training at cornerback; she likes the idea of being able to put the smack on someone without being the one to wonder when she'll get hit. And she's breaking all sorts of stereotypes. We *think* she's the first girl in the 10-year history of South County HS to play football. And one day after the mini-camp, the varsity head coach came up to her while she was talking with the freshman head coach, and said, "I hear we've found our kicker!" Sarah demurred, saying No, actually, I think Andrew wanted to be kicker. The freshman coach jumped in and said, "Oh, no, she's a DB. She's aggressive!"

I can't tell you how incredibly proud we are of her, for having the courage to break the mold and be the first girl at South County to play football. She's learning a lot--both about the game, and about what it's like for-reals on a football team (i.e., "they're rude," as she observed). But all the more, whether she becomes a starter or, like her brother, scarcely sees action all season, she'll have learned how to live out her convictions. She'll also put the world on notice that you can try to put this Baby in a corner, but she'll just take off your knees for trying.

Here's a video of the no-tackling walk-through the team did this morning, with Sarah at left corner, wearing blue. And here's the link to the 2015 Stallions freshman football schedule…come out and see her make history!