Friday night lights in a small town with a packed stadium
– it’s great
Now that’s what makes living in a small(ish) town joyful! We’re talking about 5,000 residents driving to San Jose City College to cheer on our boys – our boys who played in the Central Coast Championship football game, our boys who represented our city for the first time ever in that esteemed game.
When Gilroyans packed into that stadium and rocked it with cheers, yells, songs and foot-stomping, that feeling of community rises to a level that’s clear to everyone. It’s another tie that binds us – like the Garlic Festival or Grad Night, booster fundraisers or Walk for Life, Little League or Pop Warner, the Gilroy Foundation or the Theater Angels. We all pitch in and support the community just how we supported this terrific season of Gilroy High School football.
For icing on the cake, at halftime the league honored our GHS cross country and field hockey teams for exceptional academic achievement. What a wonderful reflection on our school and community. Student-athletes on both teams earned league-topping grade point averages as well as impressive win-loss records.
But the community spirit is only part of the GHS football season story.
One of the reasons the football team is so successful is academic, too. Coach Rich Hammond, a math teacher at the high school, made academic success a team concern. Everybody comes to the team tutoring sessions. The players who are doing well help those who aren’t, so everybody stays eligible. The added benefit is the bonding, team-building, and learning that happens in those sessions. “One for all and all for one,” becomes more than just words or a slogan, it’s translated into action. Hammond coaches the whole student-athlete, not just the player. The boys like and respect Hammond and appreciate his concern for their lives away from the field. Kudos to Principal James Maxwell for hiring Coach Hammond – we hope he’s a staple at GHS for many, many years.
Also, we’d like to reiterate a point made in a recent column about football and character by Dispatch Sports Editor Josh Koehn. Yes, in adults, maybe sports reveal rather than build character. But clearly, in high school, a decent, hard-working, respectful program that values learning, total team play, innovation and sportsmanship builds character – as well as school and community spirit.
These boys have given their time and sweat to the success of the team. They’ve shared opportunities, given to each other, protected each other, and have worked hard for a common, unchanging purpose. These are characteristics of good players, good workers and good citizens. Moreover, though they lost a tough final game, they lost with class and that indeed is a mark of a true champion.
To all the coaches and players, we’d like to say thank you for representing Gilroy so well and thanks for giving us thrills on the field and reasons to be proud off the field.
You truly captured the hearts of this little town, and your success was well deserved.
