Dear Rachael:
Dag-gone-it, I feel bad for you little buddy. I really had a good feeling your team was
going to make it happen. The team was
peaking at the right time and we were seeing the team we all expected from the
beginning of the season. I know you hurt
tonight but you’ve got a lot to look back and be proud of during your career as
a Neer. I know you gave it your best
tonight which should make your walk off the court a little easier.
I’m proud that you did your own thing by getting out of our
family tradition of soccer and basketball and taking up volleyball. It seems like yesterday when Ellie took you
out in the front yard and decided to teach you the game of volleyball. Although you got cut in that 8th
grade year, that really became your first lesson in sports, which was there is
disappointment. You turned that
disappointment into a positive by coming back and making the SK JV team as a
frosh. A cool moment. As you go on to college and your vocation,
look back at the lessons your sport taught you.
While sports always come to an end, the lessons of individual hard work,
team performance, dedication, conflict, leadership and most importantly what success
and failure teach you will be with you for a long time.
With just a few years under your belt as a player, you
always were a good listener to all of your coaches. You always tried to get better and I still
can see you improving.
I’ll take some great memories from you playing
volleyball. I’m sure a lot of your best
memories are the same as mine. The fun
runs at Bluegrass, the set win versus NDA, JV Cake Classic, and maybe some of
my favorite memories are in the form of pictures of you and Kelsey on the bench
during your sophomore year at the 8th Region Tournament. Although neither of you got any court time,
your enthusiasm and support were awesome, real leadership in my book. If I’m
not mistaken, that’s when you two got your jobs as prematch low and high five.
When the last point flashed up for North Oldham tonight, it
was neat how you and Kelsey found each other right away. While you were smiling on the outside, I know
there was a lot of sadness on the inside. I
can’t even think about how many games the two of you have played since U6 ISC Soccer
and Upward basketball. While you two had
100’s of games together and tons of out of town trips, I know your favorite trip
has to be our “man trip” that we took to Memphis where Joe and I taught you so
many things; flexibility, best places to shop, potato chips for dinner
etc.
While you learned a lot of lessons and discipline from
playing ball, when you look back on your playing days, the thing that you’ll
take away the most is the fun you had while playing AND the friends you
made. The parents of your friends became
our friends. I’ve got a pretty good
feeling that some of these friends will be with you for a while.
Thanks for taking me along and making me a volleyball
dad. Although I never did learn much
about the game, I don’t understand the silly rotations or positions, you were
always patient with me when I tried to coach you. You have to admit my points about jumping
high were pretty good ones. I was kinda
sad tonight after watching the last Fig in a Neer uni. However, it was a fun 12 years and watching you the last 4 was a blast. Enjoy the rest of your senior year!
Love,
Dad
Dad
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| Happy Birthday Schmee! Wish you coulda got your win. |
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| Season over but they still found each other for a hug. |
