BCHS Football Club

Every group of seniors is special to me.

Last year’s four seniors (Amber, Kelela, Riley, and Kirstin) hold a special place in my heart because they were my first group of seniors, and that team broke a lot of records.

This year’s group is just as special, though.

This group of seniors led our team to a school record five wins.
This group of seniors led our team to a school record FOUR clean sheets (when the previous six seasons had just one combined).
This group of seniors led our team past Grayson County for the first time.

I could say so many things about this group, but we would be up all night, and, if we are up all night, we will not have the energy for biscuit baking in the morning, so I will be brief from here.

I have a feeling that I will be typing something about this group of seniors leading us to our first district tournament win in the near future.

If we play like we did tonight, and for the majority of this season, there is no reason that cannot happen.

Rest well, team. You all EARNED it!

Coach (Mr.) Garrett

I sit here at my computer today.

A day after we were robbed of a win.
A day after we outplayed the other team in every facet of the match and still lost.
A day after we played with heart and character.
A day after we were all sad and some of us cried a little.
A day after we stood, patiently, waiting to shake hands while the other team celebrated.

Days, though, are all about perspective. This day is also a day before some things.

A day before we take the field against McLean County.
A day before we face an opponent that we know well and know how to defeat.
A day before we show that same heart and character from last night.
A day before we shed some tears of joy as our seniors are honored for their magnificent contributions to our program.
A day before I stand, one last time in this regular season, on the sideline and watch some of my favorite people play my favorite sport.

How do you view today? Are you focused on past hurts, or are you hungry for tomorrow’s glory?

I know where I am looking.

See you tomorrow.

Coach (Mr.) Garrett

I think I have finally dried off now. Almost, anyway.

We are entering a stretch of season that makes me think about last year.

Last year, at this point in our season, our record was 1-9-2 (one win, nine losses, two ties). We had three matches to go. We ended up winning all three matches to finish with a three match win streak, giving us great momentum heading into the tournament.

This year, I see a similar chance at that. The only difference is our record is better. We are currently 4-9-0. The three matches we have next week are all within our reach as long as we work together and play for one another.

As we know, wins and losses do not define us, but I believe this team has every chance to write itself into the soccer history books for our school and our district. The chance is right in front of us.

All we have to do is reach out and grab it.

And we will.

Coach (Mr.) Garrett

It’s that time of night, folks.

I have been home for two hours. I have had a nice meal with Beth Ann. I have done some laundry. I have prepared for tomorrow’s school day (pretty much, anyway).

I have a familiar feeling – one I knew I would feel again.

I am proud of our team!

We faced a tough opponent tonight – the toughest in our district. We faced them with no fear, and we never backed down. When they scored, we did not turn on ourselves; instead, we supported our teammates and that led to us avoiding a 10-0 scoreline.

Changing the culture of a program takes time, and it takes effort. Last season, we laid the foundation that enabled us to defeat Grayson County this season. Who knows? Tonight could lay the foundation for us to defeat Meade County one day.

The point is, we played hard, and our team spirit grew as a result. That will help us going into this final push.

Again, I am proud of you all.

–Coach (Mr.) Garrett

As a special note, both Samantha and Leah Rogers played in their 52nd varsity match tonight, a team record for appearances. It is only fitting that they share it, right? 🙂

I want to tell you a story. It is not an original story, but it is a good one. Most attribute it to a Native American tribe, usually the Cherokee. That is fine for my telling. The story deals with two wolves, and I am going to paraphrase the tale with soccer comparisons. Check it out:

A soccer coach gathered his players around. He told them a story.

“Girls, there is a battle going on between two wolves inside every one of us. One is evil. It is anger, selfishness, rage, lashing out against teammates, turning on one another, and quitting on the team. The other is good. It is beautiful play, togetherness, team spirit, support, encouragement, and care for the feelings of each member of the team.”

As he finished his story, one of the players asked him: “Which wolf wins?”

The coach simply replied: “The one you feed.”

This story, while slightly changed from the original, still retains its message. Our best moments as a team are when we support one another, when we encourage one another, and when we play for one another. Our worst moments are when we feed that evil wolf. This season has been one of many highs, but we know that the lows will happen, too.

In those moments, we cannot allow evil habits to take over; we cannot feed them. The team is the same team, and tonight, we happened to lose.

When we lose, we cannot allow ourselves to slide into bad habits.

When we win, we cannot allow ourselves to slide into bad habits.

From a practical standpoint, did you know that the heat index when we kicked off was ninety-eight (98!!!) degrees? Sounds hot, right? It was.

The thing about heat…it tends to cause us to lose our cool. No pun intended.

The other thing about heat is that, as you know, it is different from playing at night when the temperature is seventy degrees and cool. People will need breaks. Substitutions will need to happen. That is called being safe.

When you let the heat get to you, though, you run the risk of spoiling the game for our team.

Think about it like this: Have you ever baked biscuits? Biscuits are great. Maybe not as full meals by themselves, but hey – who doesn’t love a good biscuit? When you are baking the biscuits, though, if you leave them in the oven too long, and if you turn up the temperature too high, they will ruin. They won’t be very good.

If that is a little too much, think of it like this: your safety as players is more important to me than winning a match. It is my job to protect you from the heat. It is also my job to protect you from yourselves.

Now…let’s feed some biscuits to the good wolf from the story.

On to the next one.

See you Monday.

–Coach (Mr.) Garrett

Some individuals have called my blog posts cheesy.

Well…

Get ready for a big pile of mozzarella.

First, I am so proud. I would say this is the proudest of you all that I have ever been, but that would be a lie. I am always, always proud of you. Everybody on the team, present and at home tonight, I am proud of you.

Time for some cheddar.

In the course of our human lives, we have chances to be a part of something. Something special. Something bigger than ourselves as individuals. Tonight, our team had a chance to be a part of something.

Our team entered the match against Grayson County having never defeated this bitter district rival. Yes, we had come close before several times, but they always had our number. Last year, when we lost a heartbreaker 2-1 in the district tournament, I remember feeling odd…we had played well enough to win, but we had lost.

We all cried that night because we knew that a chance to make history had passed us by.

Earlier this season, in a match that saw our captain Kara Wall go down with an injury, we played our hearts out and lost by that same scoreline, 2-1.

We all cried that night because we knew that a chance to make history had passed us by.

Tonight, as we circled up prior to kickoff, I did not have much to say. You will remember my words. I simply said:

“Girls, at some point in history, Breckinridge County will defeat Grayson County in soccer. You have a chance to be a part of that tonight. Do you want to be able to say you were there and made it happen?”

I did not share this with you at the time, but when you all responded “YES!” I knew we had a good chance to win. I knew we had more than a good chance to win. I could hear it in your voices. You were tired of losing to this opponent; you knew that we had it in us to do it.

I then took up the best seat in the house to watch. The first half was awesome. We created chances, and we scored a goal to give us a lead. Halftime came. You will remember probably one of the briefest team talks I have ever given. I said simply:

“Right now, we have the game if we do not allow them to score. Do you want to be on the team that defeats Grayson County for the first time?”

I did not share this with you at the time, but when you all responded “YES!” I knew.

I knew.

You all sounded like you had confidence – true confidence. Not arrogance. Confidence. “We can do this,” you thought.

You were right.

We defeated Grayson County 1-0 for the first time in school history.

History was made.

Where are my Kleenexes?

–Coach (Mr.) Garrett

As a note: This win, and this season, is dedicated to #11. We love you, Kara.

Hello, team.

I cannot sleep at the moment.

I have graded essays.
I have mixed a HUDL highlight (check it out on Twitter).
I have played a few online games.
I have updated our Hall of Fame page here on the site.

Do you know why I cannot sleep?

I am so hyped up about tomorrow. Tomorrow has limitless potential. I am ready to take this team wherever it goes, and I will be proud of the outcome, because I know we will play hard…

but I just have a feeling about tomorrow.

See you then.

Well, team…that was a tough one.

Coming off a week where we built some serious momentum, the temptation is going to be to slip into a “Okay…here we go again…” type of mindset.

I will not allow that to happen.

There were several positives from tonight’s match.

Firstly, we scored against a team that shut us out last year.
Secondly, that second half was one of team togetherness and unity. I am proud of that.
Thirdly, we only have a few more games this season where we will be matched against far superior opposition. If we play like we did in that second half tonight, we will give ourselves every chance to compete.

Do not allow tonight’s match to get you down. We are the Breckinridge County High School Football Club, and we are going to make history this season.

On to the next one.

Well, girls…I’m sitting here in my chair at home and I am drained emotionally and physically…in the best way possible.

You all played with heart. You fought for each other. That second half was one for the ages. We defended expertly. We attacked mercilessly. We protected our goal without any trouble.

The part I’m most excited about…this season is just getting started! Think of all we are going to accomplish for one another this year. We really are building something special. I can feel it.

Can you?

Get some rest. We walk into our school as champions tomorrow. I look forward to it!

See you then,

Coach (Mr.) Garrett

By the time I got home last night, I was emotionally spent, so I was unable to update our website and blog until today.

I am so proud of our team! We played hard in hot conditions and we came away with the win. We know it was not easy, though, and we know that we have to keep working hard if we want to achieve glory this season.

Every match makes us better, and I am excited about tonight’s match vs. McLean County.

Let’s go do it again!

Coach (Mr.) Garrett