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Year-ending banquet honors EC's athletes
Awards and scholarships were handed out to some much deserving student athletes. The booster club began awarding scholarships in 1992. In the first few years, eight scholarships were awarded. This year, the booster club was able to give a $500 scholarship to every senior who applied and was elligible. "It's evolved into 2008 to 42 scholarships, which is incredible," Gillis said. "We figured out that in over the 16 years that we've been doing this, we've given away over $155,000 in booster club scholarships raised through the golf tournament, the raffle sale and the community. It's been outstanding and we appreciate the support. It is the highlight."
This year's tournament is scheduled for June 14 at El Campo Country Club. A great golf game is not required to contribute. To support the scholarship fund, you don't even have to tee off. "You don't have to play," Gillis said. "We have hole sponsers and we take donations. This does not go into our general fund. This goes into the scholarship account and it's only spent on scholarships, nothing else. That's the beauty of it. "At our golf tournament, we give away no prize money (only) $12 trophies. We keep all of our costs to a minimum. Most of the money we take in, besides a few expenses, goes to our scholarships." Junior Thompkins was one of the several scholarship winners. He played on the offensive line for the football team and threw shot put in track. "It means a lot because all my friends are getting scholarships for their career and what they want to be in college," Thompkins said. "It's just great that I got to be a part of that and everybody else did too. "It's great. That means our community just loves us and will do a lot just to see us succeed in life. It means a lot." Along with the booster club scholarship, five baseball players received the August Brandl Scholarship. The award is presented in honor of Head Baseball Coach Kerry Brandl's late father. Tyler Socha, Chris Raun, Taylor Graham, Blake Korenek and Matt Janke each received the $300 scholarship. Raun, who was injured during most of the season, was honored to win the scholarship. Though injured, Raun stayed with the team and helped lead the Ricebirds from the bench. "It means a lot to me knowing that I suffered injuries throughout the whole year," Raun said. "I just wanted to be around baseball, Coach Brandl and his way of doing things. The way he always talks about keeping the game of baseball in perspective with the big game of life, it just meant a lot to me. It means so much to me and I'm very grateful to receive the scholarship." Most valuable player awards were also handed out for each sport. Senior Emily Bergstrom, the softball team's MVP, said she never expected to win this award when the season started. "No, not at all," she said. "I was really excited. The way our season turned out was like a dream come true. I couldn't have done it without my team. Like Coach (Shane) Wagner said, we could have all had it because we were that close. Everything that happened on the field happened because of all of us." Senior Thad Deiss, who will play football for Texas A&M Kingsville, claimed MVP for track and also was the football team's most valuable defensive player. "There's definitely a lot of people who were equally as deserving as me," Deiss said. "The one thing I can say about getting defensive MVP is that it's really about all the people that are around you too. If they're doing their job right, it means the blocker is not blocking you. They're doing their job so you can make a tackle like that." Meredith Bard, a junior, was named MVP of volleyball and swimming. "It's a lot of hard work to be the best you can be," she said. "I've sacrificed a lot to get where I am. Hopefully it pays off with playing in college." To reward Ricebird spirit, each sport gave a Fighting Heart award. Senior Kristi Michaelsen, the Fighting Heart winner for volleyball, said the award represents attitude, willingness and teamwork. "I feel like the fighting heart is someone who tries really hard in practice and they give 110 percent," she said. "I felt like I did that in volleyball and I'm really happy that I got this award." The football team's Fighting Heart went to senior Dakota Pietsch. Pietsch started the year as El Campo's quarterback, but broke his collarbone in pre-district play. Throughout the season, he worked to rejoin the team and participated in quarterback film study. He finally came back to take a few snaps against La Marque in El Campo's final game of the year for the first round of the playoffs. "I kept trying and trying to come back and I finally did," Pietsch said. "It meant a lot to everyone, I think. "I think I played a big part on the team in keeping everybody motivated and wanting to play. A lot of them said they were doing it for me, so I think I got them going." The All-Sports Banquet gave parents, coaches, teammates and fans a chance to say thank you to the Ricebirds and Lady 'Birds for another great year. It also helps build pride in the Red and White and shows the younger athletes what hard work can do. "I think it's very important for our freshmen to see the varsity come up and be recognized, and in particular our seniors because I remember when these seniors were freshmen," Gillis said. "It goes just like that. "We try to tell them that even though practices are hard and not everything is fun about sports, try to enjoy every minute of it because it's going to go by quickly and then it's done. For these seniors, they've had a great career and a great year, but for these seniors it's done and we appreciate everything they did." |
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