Wow, what a post to deliver, as this is post #100! Thanks to everyone who is still reading. I'd love to see how many of you there are, so leave me a little note, if you don't mind.
Now on to more exciting stuff.
I got home at 1:00 AM this morning. Make that nearly 2:00 AM as we "sprung forward". Yuck.
As some of you know, Lyle, the head coach, had emergency surgery on Tuesday. He was attempting to be a trooper and came into work on Thursday morning to prepare for the day and our 6 PM departure. Well, he lasted about 30 minutes before going home. If you know Lyle at all, he does not get ill often and certainly does not enjoy being away from his students at any time. We left it that he would see how he was feeling later in the day. When I got the call at 3 PM, I knew there was no way he was going to the tournament. Of course, he told me he'd get up Friday morning and see how he was feeling. Friday morning he was no better, if not worse. So I was flying maverick.
We left at 6:00 PM Thursday night. Thursday and Friday were pretty uneventful. Friday night I did have a great time shooting the breeze with about eight of the boys. Down in the hotel breakfast nook, the boys, Emily (a friend and co-worker who was along to judge), some parent chaperones, and myself sat around with some of the boys. We laughed so hard and shared so many stories.
Saturday was a LONG day. 6:00 AM came around early. But the boys were on the bus and ready to leave at 7:30 AM. By 11:00 AM, 10 of the boys were already out of the competition. Then at 2:00, three of the boys who had made it into the quarter final rounds found out they had not advanced to the semi-final rounds. Then at 4:30 we found out one of the two boys left from our team did not advance from the semi-final round to the final round.
That left Evan. A senior, Evan is one of the co-captains and such a nice young man. He competes in a category called Student Congress. Basically, these high school men and women bring legislation to the tournaments and participate in two and three hour Congress sessions. They give speeches in affirmation and negation of a bill or resolution, and then also take the opportunity to ask questions of the speaker. Eventually the chamber votes whether to pass or fail the legislation. Also during these sessions one student acts as the presiding officer, in charge of time keeping, recognizing students who wish to speak or ask questions, and basically make sure the chamber runs smoothly.
At 8:00 PM we found out that Evan was in the top six of the entire event (149 students competed in all).
At the awards ceremony, Evan went on stage with his five competitors. First it was announced that Evan was selected by his fellow competitors to be the "Best Presiding Officer". Then one-by-one names were read, from 6th place to 1st place. One-by-one students exited the stage as Evan remained. Finally, 2nd place was announced, and a young girl exited the stage.
GLHS had another State Champion. Evan had cooly and calmly beat 148 other students, the best from the state. He was number one in Student Congress.
I quickly made my way to the stage, as both competitor and coach get a plaque recognizing success in the event. That was the GREATEST feeling, being on the stage in front of over 700 high school students from around the state of Ohio, as well as their coaches, assistant coaches, parents, and other judges. We exited the stage where Evan was overcome with emotion. And then he proudly picked up the phone to call Lyle, who was lying in bed watching the results live via computer.
It was truly an incredible experience, something as a teacher and coach I will surely NEVER forget. And I'm so glad that Evan wanted me, the assistant coach, there with him on stage. Because in that moment, I wasn't an assistant coach, I was just a coach.
