Community Pride

Most of us in our adult years remember what it was like to play sports. We didn’t care what sports we played just so we played. Baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, softball, tennis – heck, anything that involved getting out and doing fun stuff was okay by us. I’m sure that some didn’t have this type of growing up but many did. If you are one who didn’t play sports, I’m sure you did other things that meant just as much to you, but playing sports is something you NEVER forget.

Many of our wonderful Badger athletes have grown up together, attended class together and yes, played on various sports teams together. Some of these bonds will never be broken. These connections are deeply rooted in who we are as individuals, and playing on a team can be traced back throughout the generations and cultures all over the planet. Being part of a team cultivates various dynamics that are both wonderful and loathful at the same time. If you are star, you get to play more and you get to make more plays. The converse is true also – if you are not so good, you don’t get to play as much and you may feel that your contribution may not matter as much. Of course these dynamics are true in every aspect of life, but for our kids it is often agonizing to see them have to endure such trials. Great coaches help all of our athletes to understand that they matter and are a part of something bigger than themselves. These coaches have a way of putting both fun and fire into the sport to cultivate better performance even from those who see lots of time on the bench.

This fall season the Bonners Ferry Badgers have had great opportunity to excel in various sporting events and a big part of that, as mentioned before, is great coaching. This year we have seen a dedicated coaching staff on all fronts, and the end result is having players who are willing to play hard and do their absolute best at all times.

Coach Anika Blackmore gave her time and talent to get the girls’ soccer team to a new level this season. The season was a tough one and provided many hard lessons, but in the end the coach and her team of athletes were proud of their accomplishments and their level of play. Coeur d’Alene Charter ended the hopes of the Badgers going to State for the girls’ soccer team in a tough loss in round two of District competition.

Soccer Coach Wayne Wilkerson was appreciative to be back on the field with a young team and some really talented players this season. Even though these boys saw some fierce competition, they always played hard and learned at every opportunity. The team is young and as they mature will become warriors on the field. Community School ended the boys’ soccer team State competition on their way to a second place finish.

Coach Kendra Maas and her girls’ volleyball team had high hopes of making it to the State competition, but in a play-in game at Grangeville against Emmett those hopes were dashed. Maas has stated that going into the game, they did not know anything about Emmett, and in the end it took her athletes a little too long to work through it. She said volleyball is a game of mistakes and whichever team makes the least amount of mistakes wins.

Coach Tyler Warner once again took the cross-country teams to State. Both the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams advanced with many runners doing well. There were many stories of runners who had transitioned from track to cross country and did well in the change. One of these athletes, Jordon Young, placed 16th. The girls’ team ended up placing eighth out of 10 teams and the boys placed ninth out of 11 teams.

Football. Okay, I saved football for the last fall sport I’m writing about and will give more ink to it due to one key fact: my son is a football player. If I had more time to get around to cheer on all the other sports, I would. But I did make it to football and what a season we had this year. Some of our coaches remained from last year, but this year saw the installment of Head Coach Cory Kramer. This one change did more for the moral of the team than changing plays or anything else. Having a coaching staff that is unified and on the same page is something that cannot be understated. The communication level of this coaching staff is also second to none as the players and family members were in constant contact via Facebook.

Then there were the games. We came out of the gate facing Priest River in a non-league opener that we won by a small margin. The next week we would face a team from Chestermere B.C., and we won convincingly. That would end the winning for a couple of weeks as we travelled to Ritzville, Washington to face a much bigger (4A) school from La Grande, Oregon. Our boys got beat up pretty badly coming out with four concussions and lots of bruises. The guys going into the next tough game would suffer due to the injuries of the previous week as they faced off against St. Maries. Again we fell behind and could not recover. So with these four non-league games done we were ready to begin league play.

Our first league game was against Priest River at both their senior night and homecoming. They were itching to pay us back for the first loss and came out strong – scoring at will. By the third quarter they were up to 34 points to our 18. The stands started to clear out a bit by the middle of the fourth quarter, but afterwards they would hear what happened. An interception by Christian Dowell opened the door to the comeback. Still down 34-18 we worked down to give Jason Shutes a chance to kick a long field goal making the score 34-21. The next series we scored again… the score now 34-28. And with only 1:30 left in the game and 4th down and 30 to go Kaleb Stockton connected with Isaac Lavala for a 40-plus yard reception which lead to the next score. Jason Shutes kicked the point after and the defense held the last 30 seconds to give us a 35-34 win. It was the best football game I’ve seen in years.

Timberlake would take us on next and win sending us to Fruitland for State playoffs. Fruitland seemed to be in a different league altogether and beat us 68-20 ending our season.

So whatever sport you support know that our student athletes give not only their time but also their bodies to do their absolute best. The next time you are invited out to support the Badgers, grab your chair and let’s cheer for our great kids!

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