Preserving athletic history is important for schools
It seems as though history is a forgotten part of every day lives.
No one wants to hear about how culture was during the pre-cell phone days.
You mean people existed before cable TV, Hulu or Net Flix?
Is a “golden oldie” a song you heard on the radio last Tuesday?
Now, there’s nothing wrong with today’s emphasis on science and technology.
The study of DNA and forensics has gone a long way toward helping people discover their ancestral roots and aided those in law enforcement in solving crimes.
But what about history?
Is that something that anybody is really interested in these days?
It was evident late last week that history still means a great deal to Fairbanks High School.
The school’s athletic department recognized members of the 1977 volleyball team on the 40th anniversary of their, what was then, Class A state championship.
Members of that team were introduced to Panther fans during a match against Mechanicsburg.
Sadly, the Lady Panthers of yester-year were not joined by their head coach.
The late Patty Pease guided that team to the state championship. Patty passed away three weeks ago after a short battle with cancer.
While she wasn’t there in person last Thursday, I’m sure she was in spirit.
To further recognize Pease, school officials have decided to rename their mid-season tournament, the Panther Classic, after her.
The 1977 team featured some exceptional athletes and it was fun to cover them in volleyball and other sports in which they participated as I was just getting started in my newspaper career.
I was just a couple of years older than most of the players on the team at that time.
I went from being a contemporary of the earlier high school athletes I covered to an age where I was old enough to be one of their parents.
Shortly, I will be old enough to be a grandparent to our local high school athletes.
Where has the time gone?
It is very important to remember a school’s athletic heritage. It’s a way to show today’s and tomorrow’s athletes what they can accomplish with hard work.
This year’s Lady Panther spikers seem to be taking that lesson to heart. To date, they have won all 20 of their matches and are seeded second for the upcoming Division III district tournament.
Regardless of how far this team advances in the post-season, it will go down in the books as one of the more memorable volleyball teams in Panther history.
Who knows?
Maybe today’s Lady Panthers will gather back at the school sometime during the 2057 season to be honored for what they achieved.
Let’s see, by that time, I’ll be… aw, forget about it.