Delaney: Cherish dream season
Two non-high school football teams are enjoying the final days of their fall seasons. High school football state championships will be played on Thanksgiving weekend. The Vernon-Verona-Sherrill field hockey hockey team and the Hamilton Central boys soccer team will play state semifinal games this weekend.
VVS will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chittenango High School, and Hamilton will play at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame Complex in Oneonta.
Reliving my high school days is not something I'd embrace, but I'd go back in time - far, far back at this point - to enjoy a post-season run with teammates especially if I could do it at one of the many small schools in the Utica area.
Players on high school teams that play deep into a season become rock stars in their communities. The fan support, though, is genuine. While covering a team on its post-season run, I see familiar faces at games and practices. This is not a luxury I enjoy during the regular season when we're trying to get a lot of schools covered and we get to see a team once or twice. I've seen the looks of pride on fans' faces when the season-ending loss finally comes. They tell me how well the kids have played even in defeat, what good kids they are and how proud they are. These words don't often ring true with me except in defeat.
"It's a special feeling," said Hamilton Central assistant coach Trevor Chapman, a 2003 graduate of the school. "It's in the air."
VVS will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chittenango High School, and Hamilton will play at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame Complex in Oneonta.
Reliving my high school days is not something I'd embrace, but I'd go back in time - far, far back at this point - to enjoy a post-season run with teammates especially if I could do it at one of the many small schools in the Utica area.
Players on high school teams that play deep into a season become rock stars in their communities. The fan support, though, is genuine. While covering a team on its post-season run, I see familiar faces at games and practices. This is not a luxury I enjoy during the regular season when we're trying to get a lot of schools covered and we get to see a team once or twice. I've seen the looks of pride on fans' faces when the season-ending loss finally comes. They tell me how well the kids have played even in defeat, what good kids they are and how proud they are. These words don't often ring true with me except in defeat.
"It's a special feeling," said Hamilton Central assistant coach Trevor Chapman, a 2003 graduate of the school. "It's in the air."
posted by Anne Delaney at
7:51 PM
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