Malcolm Henry
Legend-fvcking-dary. You can bet your ass that every kid on this team is going to tell this story a thousand times before they die. And I would too.
Sierra Linda High School in Arizona is where our tale takes place. The week prior, in a freshman football game, an opposing coach noticed that the Sierra Linda team was not playing with hip pads. Sierra Linda explained that the shipment of pads was not delivered to the team and that they would have said equipment soon (it actually got there the next day). Well, that was not good enough. The game was ‘unsafe’ and had to be stopped… and, also, the head coach of the varsity team had to be suspended one week for allowing these unsafe conditions.
In a sign of solidarity with the head coach, all of his assistants (and one player) decided that they were also going to suspend themselves for the contest this week.
CoolCoolCool…. except the other players were not having that. They got on the bus to Yuma (a three-hour ride) without any coaches. Oh, and they didn’t tell their parents until over an hour into the trip when the school sent out an email letting the parents know.
“I would like to inform you that the SLHS Varsity Football game in Yuma is still on schedule and the team departed at approximately 1:30 p.m.,” Sierra Linda principal Tim Madrid said in an email to parents. “Unfortunately, our SLHS coaches decided they were not going to accompany the team on this trip. Consequently, we had to scramble to find certified, highly qualified and authorized coaches to substitute in their place.
“I apologize for the late notice as we were still unsure we could make this happen. We did not want our players to miss out on the opportunity to play in the game and we sent 99% of the team.”
That is pretty fvcking killer, too.
So, fast forward, to the game.
The players called all the plays on offense. And defense. And they won, 23-21.
“So our boys won 23-21 coaching themselves calling their own offensive and defensive plays,” a parent texted. “Parents, coaches and the community are so extremely proud of what these young men accomplished Friday night and also so far this season.
“And it only speaks to the culture coach Gill and his staff have patiently groomed into the program and these boys the last few years.”
Sierra Linda moved to 6-2 after the game. This story is undefeated.
Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash
