Even though this particular big dance was some miles to the south of the path around the Falls, an estimated 1,000 fans made the trip to be part of the experience Friday morning. The Lady Panthers ran out of the locker room and onto the state tournament court in front of a cheering crowd decked out in orange and black.
It was the biggest crowd in the stands, no doubt due to the fact that classes in the district had been canceled to help facilitate attendance and to avoid a litany of issues that would have existed if classes would have been scheduled as usual on that very unusual day.
There was unprecedented media attention for this first-time appearance of the Oconto Falls High School girls basketball team at state, which set the stage for what was anticipated to be an exciting finish to the longest season an OFHS ladies team had ever experienced.
Three consecutive 3-point shots by the opposing team to start the game did not bode well. To be eliminated by the team that won the state championship Saturday takes a bit of the sting out of the loss.
As noted in last week’s ponderings in this space, the call to cancel classes on Friday was a bit controversial, and we fielded (Why do sports analogies so often enter our dialog?) about a half-dozen questions about why we place a higher priority on athletics than academics.
The fact is, by many measures, the Oconto Falls School District places a very high emphasis on academics and is quite successful. We could point to lots of evidence to support that perspective. One of the starters on that basketball team, Carly Lemke, was one of only 100 high school seniors across the state to be recognized as a Kohl Excellence Scholar. She continues a long tradition. As far as we know, OFHS has had more Kohl Excellence Scholars than any other high school in the state. This is one of many similar success stories.
A number of the pieces in the media after the game quoted athletes and coaches saying it was a meaningful, memorable journey that was worth every penny, even if the gold state championship trophy was not added to the trophy case.
The experience put Oconto Falls on the map. The publicity had to make the community and surrounding area proud. Much as we might like it, media coverage about the number of students who graduate with college credit on their transcripts never quite makes the same splash.
One of the other really important things we try to stress in our classrooms is about the importance of building relationships. The degree to which we achieve success in this area is never reported on the school report card. A team never makes it to state unless there are positive relationships on many levels. The players on the team have to have positive relationships with each other and with the coaching staff. A team has a hard time winning if there is not a positive relationship with the people in the student section cheering them on.
The pep band having a great time playing the school song makes a difference. The choir or the soloist singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” builds a positive relationship. The relationship builds between elementary students looking up to those players on the team and hoping that someday they could be the reason classes could be canceled because of a state tournament berth.
Perhaps one of the most important relationships is the bond between community members and the athletes on that team. There is more community pride and perhaps a slightly bigger smile on the water tower with a team going to state. People care. That’s what really counts.
Due to the concern about the potential for frozen water lines, Oconto Falls has issued an order to keep the water running. If we think about that smile on the water tower, a bit of that smile is going on a constant flow into homes in the community.
We would like to feel that the homes in the area also have a renewed sense of community pride in the athletes at Oconto Falls High School.
To the team we say, thanks for letting us be part of that dance.
Categories
