High School Sports Magazine-April 2008 Issue

www.texashighschoolsportsmagazine.com April 27-May 27, 2008

THE BEST ATTHEIR BEST

P.11FELICIA ESPERICUETA

2 STATE GOLF APPEARANCESROXANNE RODRIGUEZ

75 PITCHING SOFTBALL WINS STEPHEN SAENZ

DISCUS AND SHOTPUT RECORDSwww.highschoolsportsmagazine.net

April 27-May 28, 2008

>>>HSSM FOOTBALL COMBINE at www.hssmscout.com

Brackets Inside!

Class 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, Region IV

SoftballSoftballPlayoffsPlayoffs>>>>

UIL STATE

Sharyland Girls Golf Team Headed to 5A State MeetSharyland Girls Golf Team Headed to 5A State Meet

Alejandra Cantu Wins Region IV Golf 5A TitleAlejandra Cantu Wins Region IV Golf 5A Title

TOO GOOD!TOO GOOD!

BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

Page 16

RGV STATETRACK & FIELD

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Volume 4 Issue 3April 27, 2008

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APRIL 27 , 2008

On the Cover: Felicia Espericueta of Edinburg North; Roxanne Rodriguez of PSJA North; Ste-phen Saenz-RGC; Ale Cantu of Sharyland/HSSM IMages/David A. Amador

High Fives. Dylan De Leon of Weslaco hits a home-run at a recent game. The Panthers will play PSJA in Class 5A Bi-District Baseball Champi-onships.

(HSSM IMages)

VOLUME 4, NO. 3Lineup

F E A T U R E S

State Softball PlayoffsAce on the Mound: PSJA North’s Roxanne Rodriguez2008 Pitching Record: 27-2 19

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

9 Sharyland Leads PackLady Rattlers Golf Team head to State 5A Championships; 30-5A District Champions Ale Cantu and Abraham Ancer leads team

11 Track and Field QualifiersMishak Rivas of Weslaco qualifies for state meet for the third time; RGC’s Stephen Saenz gunning for gold medals; McAllen Memorial’s wants two medals. See list of qualifiers.

22 HSSM Hosts CombineMore than 600 football athletes attend annual photoday and football combine. New website, www.hssmscout.com posts results nationally. Top athletes awarded.

FOOTBALL COMBINE

BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS

16 Howling Coyotes?La Joya wins final District 30-5A title before splitting; McHi, Mercedes, lead the pack of hopefuls.

19 Softball Playoffs PSJA North Wins Third Bi-District title; Har-lingen South moves to second round; Mercedes ready for area playoffs. The quest begins this week.

31 New Student Fees?With the cost of fuel rising, school districts might have to resort to a new student fee for athletes to travel. Corporate sponsorships could be the key to offset costs.

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State-Bound

UIL GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE 9

For more log on to: www.hssmonline.net

State-BoundUIL Class 5A Title Hopefuls are Abraham Ancer and Ale Cantu of Sharyland H.S.; and Felicia Esperi-

cueta of Edinburg North. They will travel to Austin, Texas on May 8-9th. (HSSM Images)

Ale Cantu Defeats Felicia Espericueta in Three-Hole Playoff for Title

(San Antonio, Texas)-A sweet victory it was for parents Pedro and Sylvia as they rushed to hug and cry with their daughter Alejandra Cantu of Sharyland after she sank her three-foot par putt on Hole No.3 to win a three-hole playoff over Edinburg North’s Felicia Espericueta to become the Class 5A Region IV Golf Champion at the Olmos Basin Golf Course in San Antonio, Texas. Cantu, the 30-5A District Champion, fired a 2-under par 70 on her final day by birding holes No. 2, 4, 7, 11 to come-from-behind, one-stroke down, to win her first

title. “I have to thank my parents for all of their support throughout these years. I thank them and God for this day,” said Cantu. The four-time regional appearance golfer will now play in the State 5A Golf Championships this week at the Jimmy Clay Golf Course in Austin, Texas on May 8-9th. “This is amazing and I am looking forward to playing at state,” added Cantu. In team results, the Sharyland High School Lady Rattlers will also travel to Austin as they qualified as the Class 5A IV Runners-up. The Lady Rattlers took a one shot lead after 18 holes over Austin Westlake with a 314 to 315 on the first day but squandered their lead to finish second overall. Head coach Susan Lopez, says that

UIL Golf 5A Championships

“runner-up” still gets you to state. “This is unbelievable. I knew we had the team to get to state but this is my first state appearance as a coach in twenty years. Wow, this is awesome.” The Lady Rattlers shot a final team round of 313. Team members advancing are Ana Choi (79-79), Ale Valdez (83-84), Samantha Garcia (79-80), Lisa Garza 83-93), and Cantu (73-70). Espericueta advances as the second place medalist along with SA Churchill’s Jessica Borth, who won in a playoff over SA Reagan’s Alana Jean Keith. In Class 5A Boys Regional action, Abraham Ancer of Sharyland made a great comeback after shooting a 73 on the first day at Pecan Valley Golf Course in San Antonio,

Texas. Ancer finished third overall after firing a 70 to qualify for the state championships. Also advancing is Corpus Christi Ray’s Daniel Sciantarelli as the fourth place medalist with scores of 69-74. The Class 5A State Golf Championships tees off this week at the Jimmy Clay Golf Course in Austin on May 8-9th with tee times set for 7:30 a.m. Only eight teams from all four regions are invited to play in the state championships, along with the top two scorers, not on the playoff teams. Rattler head coach Fernando Rodriguez of Sharyland said, “Abraham has a good chance but it will be tough. This will be a talented field of golfers. He will have to play smart golf.”

Class 5A Region IV Golf Champions. Pictured are the Sharyland Lady Rattlers golf team qualifying for the State 5A Golf Championships from l-r are Ana Choi, Alejandra Valdez, Ale Cantu, Lisa Garza, and Samanta Garcia. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

10 WWW.HSSMSCOUT.COM

UIL TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Best ofthe BestRio Grande Valley High School Athletes set to com-pete at the State Track and Field meet to be held at the Mike Myers Stadium in Austin this week

2008 State Track and Field QualifiersLaura Ochoa, Bro Rivera, DiscusTricia Terry, McAllen Memorial, 1600 meter, 3200 runsKassandra Larios, Hgn South, 100 hurdlesKathy Trevino, RGC, 400 run

Starla Garcia, PSJA North, 3200 Stephen Saenz, RGC, Discus-ShotputMishak Rivas, Weslaco, 400 run, long jumpJerry Espinoza, Weslaco, 400 runOscar Garza, La Joya, 800 runBrandon Broden, Hanna, 1600 runDeandra Barroso, Mercedes,

Long jumpAlex Trevino, Mercedes, 100, 200 runAlex De La Garza, Mercedes, 1600 runJesus Alvarez, Mission, shot putRobin Torres, Weslaco East, 800 runDavid Rodriguez, Raymondville, shot put

Kassandra LariosHarlingen South

Tricia TerryMcAllen Memorial

Stephen SaenzRio Grande City

(McAllen, Tx)-Rio Grande City’s Stephen Saenz will lead 15 Region IV Track and Field qualifiers from the Rio Grande Valley on May 9-10th

at the UIL Track and Field Championships to be held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. Field events will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Friday

for 1A-4A schools and on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. for 2A-5A. Saenz set Valley records in the shot put and discus throws and is favored to win medals in both events. Also returning to state is McAllen Memorial’s Tricia Terry in the 1600 and 3200

For final track and field results: www.hssmonline.net

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Best ofthe Best


Back to State. Mishak Rivas of Weslaco High School will head back to state for the third straight year. He will compete in the long jump and 400 meter run. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

meter runs. In 2007, Terry placed 4th in the 3200 run with a time of 11:05.59 and missed winning the 1600 meters title by one second with a time of 5:03.13. Terry surprised the entire field when she decided to run in both events at the 30-5A Dis-trict championships with a hobbled foot. In Class 4A, Alex Trevino of Mercedes qualified in the 100 and 200 meter runs. Trevino has been untouchable throughout the season, almost eclipsing Bobby Morrow’s 200 meter re-cord by .1 seconds. Like Terry, the Mercedes speedster earned a bronze medal with a time of 21.42 in last year’s state cham-pionships. Teammate Alex De La Garza will run the 1600 me-ters. Weslaco’s Mishak Rivas earned a full scholarship to run track and play football with Texas State University in the 2008 Fall Semester and he returns for the third time vying to win a state title in the 400 meters and long jump. In 2006, Rivas placed fourth in the long jump with a mark of 23’05.25”. He will compete in the same event again. Rivas brought home the bronze medal last year in the 400 meter run with a time of 47.77. “I’m looking forward to competing in both events. This is my last stop before I go to college,” says Rivas.

UIL TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

For final track and field results: www.hssmonline.net


Howling Coyotes!La Joya Wins 30-5A Championships

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Howling Coyotes! (La Joya, Texas)-The Coyotes clinched the 2008 District 30-5A baseball title by defeating McHi 5-4 with pitcher Miguel Pena (8-2) fanning 16 Bulldogs at the plate. Ei-ther way, both teams qualified for the state playoffs set to begin this weekend. The La Joya Coyotes will face Laredo Johnson in the first round of the State 5A playoffs while McAllen will play Eagle Pass in the upper bracket. Both teams could meet again the re-gional quarterfinals. In more playoff action, the Weslaco Panthers will be facing PSJA in bi-district and the winner will then play Laredo Johnson/La Joya in the area play-offs. The Panthers lost to the Hawks in the regional quarterfinals in a three-game series in 2007. As for the Harlingen South Hawks, they were eliminated from contention after finishing 6th in District 30-5A. The Hawks advanced to the State 5A Finals in 2007 in Round Rock, Texas. The new 30-5A championship title went to the Edinburg Bobcats with a perfect 14-0 finish. They will face Los Fresnos in the first round.

Photo by David A. Amador

by logging on towww.hssmonline.net

Class 5A Bi-District Champions!The PSJA North Lady Raiders softball team defeated Weslaco to captured their third straight title.(HSSM IMages)


For more log on to: www.hssmonline.netUIL SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS

PSJA North Lady Raiders Win Title

Lar AlexanderSharyland

PSJA NorthWeslaco

HarlingenSan Benito

Eagle PassMcA Memorial

Sharyland

PSJA North

San Benito

Eagle Pass

Bi-District Area Regional-Quarters

Class 5A State Softball Championships-Region IV

(Pharr, Texas)-The PSJA North Lady Raiders (29-5) made captured their third straight Class 5A Bi-District trophy as they defeated Weslaco 11-0 be-hind the superb pitching of junior ace Roxanne Rodriguez (27-2). The Lady Raiders will now face Sharyland in the area playoffs this week. The Lady Panthers held the Lady Raiders score-less in the first two innings but then the third inning sting of hits by the Lady Raiders and costly errors by the Lady Panthers allowed PSJA North to move on to the next round. Yessenia Torres belted three hits, scoring two runs and one RBI and Crystal Esc-obedo added three more hits to lead the Lady Raid-ers. In more playoff action, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks downed Los Fresnos in three games to ad-vance to the area playoffs. They will face top-ranked La Joya this week. In a big upset, Edinburg North

disposed of Brownsville Porter in three games to move on to the next round. In Class 4A action, both Mission and Mission Veterans were eliminated in the first round, thus leaving the 32-4A champions, Mercedes alone and alive, after getting a bye in the first round. The Lady Tigers have won four straight district titles and they will now face Beeville Jones in the Class 4A Area Championships.


For more sports: www.highschoolsportsmagazine.net

Monuments and Pre-Needs Sales Available

We Finance Funerals. Easy Plans.

State 5A Bi-District Champions. The Harlingen South Lady Hawks softball team members pictured (not in order) are Joslynn Benavides, Chelsea Wray, Alex Guerrero, Miranda Garcia, Calire Galindo, Bubba Romero, Krystal Leon, Brianna Martinez, Camille Waters, BC Canales, Chelsie Alejandro, Ariel Guevara, Ari Perez, Alexis Leon, and manager Sylvia Arismendez.. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

SA SouthsideBeeville Jones

BYEMercedes

RobstownMission

BYECC Moody

Beeville Jones

Mercedes

Robstown

CC Moody

Bi-District Area Regional-QuartersClass 4A State Softball Championships-Region IV


For more state tennis results: www.hssmonline.net

Duo AcesOn CourtBY DAVID AMADOR Photograph by HSSM IMages

Sharyland’s Cris-tobal Ramirez and Nathan Alhalel captured the Class 5A Region IV Ten-nis Doubles Title.Both will head to state for looking for GOLD.

Headed to the State 5ATennis Championships are Cristobal Ramirez and Nathan Alhalel of Sharyland at the Lake-way World of Tennis in San Antonio, Texas.

he biggest d e c i s i o n tennis head coach Mike Salinas of Sharyland

H.S. had to make in late January was to replace one of his tennis doubles players with a freshmen. His decision, a painful one, paid off and now he

will take Nathan Alhalel and new doubles teammate Cristobal Ramirez to the State 5A Tennis Championships. Both players defeated Austin Westlake’s top-seeded players, Alex Durham and Russell Bader in the semifinals to win 6-4, 6-4 to move on and claim the Region IV title. “Cristobal

stepped up and he played great. He handled himself well for an underclassmen,” laughs Alhalel. Head coach Salinas decided to make a change and moved junior classmen Alex Tajonar to singles and moved up Ramirez to play doubles. “The move paid off and sometimes making these choices

are the hardest,” says Salinas. For Alex Tajonar, he will travel with the team to state as an alternate. Alhalel and Ramirez both captured the 30-5A title and this earned them the No.4 seed at the Region IV Championships. At Regionals, the Sharyland tennis duo found themselves behind 3-0 in the semifinals but Salinas regrouped his team and they would win in straight sets. “I play tennis atleast four hours a day,” says the freshmen ace. “This is a really great program here at Sharyland and I’m excited,” added the soft-spoken Rattler. In the finals, Alhalel and Ramirez escaped another nail-biter, this time a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over the second-seeded team of Cody Howard and Dylon Bodet from SA Clark. The pair will face Robert Voss and Chris Hoffman of Houston Clear Lake in the first round of the state championships with winners playing El Paso Coronado/Plano West.

T

The Ultimate TestThe Ultimate TestPHOTODAY AND COMBINE 2008Log on to: www.hssmscout.com for results...

Who will become the next NFL Draftees like former Rio Grande Valley High School Preps Mission’s Koy Detmer, Tom Landry, Rio Hondo’s Robert Garza, Harlingen’s Leo Araguz, Johnny Jackson, or McAllen’s Roland Cantu? RGV High School athletes came to Weslaco to begin their quest...Who will become the next NFL Draftees like former Rio Grande Valley High School Preps Mission’s Koy Detmer, Tom Landry, Rio Hondo’s Robert Garza, Harlingen’s Leo Araguz, Johnny Jackson, or McAllen’s Roland Cantu? RGV High School athletes came to Weslaco to begin their quest...

Photographed by David A. Amador/HSSM Images

The Ultimate TestThe Ultimate TestPHOTODAY AND COMBINE 2008

High School

SportsMagazine

High School

SportsMagazine

Who will become the next NFL Draftees like former Rio Grande Valley High School Preps Mission’s Koy Detmer, Tom Landry, Rio Hondo’s Robert Garza, Harlingen’s Leo Araguz, Johnny Jackson, or McAllen’s Roland Cantu? RGV High School athletes came to Weslaco to begin their quest...Who will become the next NFL Draftees like former Rio Grande Valley High School Preps Mission’s Koy Detmer, Tom Landry, Rio Hondo’s Robert Garza, Harlingen’s Leo Araguz, Johnny Jackson, or McAllen’s Roland Cantu? RGV High School athletes came to Weslaco to begin their quest...

Log on to: www.hssmscout.com for results...

The HSSM Ultimate Football Com-bine sponsored by Dairy Queen began with the 40-Yard Dash and Vertical Jump. Pictured are (left pho-to) Adan Garcia of Edinburg North and La Feria Prep Ethan Rodriguez. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

Turn Pagefor Story

BY DAVID A. AMADORHSSM SPORTS DIRECTOR


The Best Punter in the State? Prep punter Jesus Vargas of Donna HS drew attention from college scouts with his 65-yard punt with a 4.67 hang time. He averaged 54.0 yardson four attempts. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

(Weslaco, Texas)-Like former NFL punter of the Oakland Raiders, Leo Araguz, a graduate from Harlingen High School has inspired Valley athletes like Donna H.S. punter Jesus Vargas. The problem is getting Vargas’s name exposed nation-wide so that colleges will see that he can punt footballs 65-yards out with hang times of 4.67. “That’s NFL standards already,” said Ricky Lopez, an assistant football coach with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor of Belton, Texas who watched Vargas punt. More than 600 football athletes came with the same dreams from high schools across the Rio Grande Valley to attend the Fourth Annual High School Sports Magazine Football Photoday and Football Combine held at the Bobby Lackey Football Stadium in Weslaco on April 19th. The annual event kicked off spring football for most high schools, an event sponsored by Dairy Queen/Lynn Lee Inc. of Pharr, Texas on Saturday. “This is great,” said Jerry Cook, Dairy Queen Director of Operations as he welcomed players from across South Texas. Cook said that he was proud to be part of this community event. “Next year this combine and photoday will be bigger and Dairy Queen will be



right here to make this happen again. I want every athlete to get national recognition from this event,” added Cook. South Texas football athletes traveled to Weslaco looking for national exposure from High School Sports Magazine’s national scouting prep web site at www.hssmscout.com. As temperatures started to hit the high 90’s, athletes wore their football jerseys and one by one had their pictures taken by HSSM Sports Director, David “Touchdown Dave” Amador. The annual High School Sports Magazine will publish all photos in their upcoming 2008 Football Preview slated for publication in July. “I’ve been doing this for four years now and this event just keeps getting bigger. We had 31 high schools who came today and next year we hope to have every high school here,” said Amador.

The Weigh-In and Bench Test. Ultimate Speed School coordinator Gina Martinez (top photo) weighed in athletes and took their height measures at the combine. Below, althetes were also tested in

185-Max Bench Press. (Chris la Rock/HSSM IMages)

PHOTODAY AND COMBINE 2008


In conjunction with HSSM Media Photoday, High School Sports Magazine hosted its first HSSM Ultimate Football Combine. “It just made sense to combine both events. Last year, other entities were charging these high school athletes a fee to attend a football combine and so I decided to host a free combine to give every athlete the opportunity to participate with hopes of getting national exposure on our web site at www.hssmscout.com,” said Amador. “The Ultimate Speed School and Jason Martinez made this football combine event happen and together, we planned this event with Dairy Queen. The Weslaco School District also opened their doors to us. We thank them for this,” says Amador. Prior to the football combine, many coaches and players were confused after an article ran in the The Monitor featuring another football combine being held on the same day at Weslaco East HS. This football combine was charging up to $250 per player. “Again, I was stunned after reading about this combine. It was outrageous. What bothered me the most was when the individual hosting the combine was quoted saying that he wanted at least 200 athletes to attend because he was doing this for the kids,” said Amador.

The Champions. Ultimate Speed School director Jason Martinez congratulates bench press overall champion Jacob Garza of Edinburg; Marco Adriana of Edinburg North for 40-yard dash; and Mike Black-mon of Weslaco for the vertical jump and shuttle.

(David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

“That’s almost a $50,000 payday for him. Unbelievable,” added Amador. Players started registering at 8:00 a.m. at Bobby Lackey Stadium. Schools from as far as Zapata, Raymondville, Roma, Valley View, Port Isabel, and even Brownsville Porter H.S. attended and one by one players had their

“We teamed up with High School Sports Magazine because they have been successful with their coverage of high school sports in the Valley...” Jason Martinez

Ultimate Speed School


The Athletes. More than 500 football players from across the Rio Grande Valley attended the High School Sports Magazine’s Football Photoday and Ultimate Football Combine sponsored by Dairy Queens/Lynn Lee Inc. (Chris la Rock/HSSM IMages)

H.S. FOOTBALL

PROGRAMSWHO

PARTICIPATED

HARLINGEN H.S.HARLINGEN SOUTHPSJA NORTHPSJA MEMORIALEDINBURGEDINBURG NORTHECONOMEDES (1)BROWNSVILLE PORTERLOS FRESNOS

SAN BENITOWESLACOSHARYLANDMCALLEN ROWEDONNALA JOYA HSLA JOYA PALMVIEWLA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLNMISSION VETERANS

VALLEY VIEWEDCOUCH-ELSAROMAMERCEDESWESLACO EASTLA FERIAPROGRESORIO HONDORAYMONDVILLE

ZAPATAPORT ISABELSANTA ROSALA VILLASANTA MARIA

32 HIGH SCHOOLSMORE THAN 500ATHLETES...

photos taken and then many participated in the football combine. “We teamed up with High School Sports Magazine because they have been successful with their coverage of high school sports in the Valley. It just made

sense when Touchdown Dave approached me on this event,” said Martinez. The Ultimate Speed School and High School Sports Magazine awarded the top athletes in each category and



HSSM Photoday. Port Isabel football players traveled to Weslaco to get their photos taken at the annual event. The High School Sports Magazine Football Preview 2008 is set for release in July in stores Val-

leywide. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

Mike Blackmon of Weslaco was the top athlete in the vertical jump with a leap of 35” and he also won the shuttle run with a time of 4.28 seconds. In the max bench press of 185 lbs., Jacob Garza had 34 reps to win and the fastest man alive award went to Marco Adriana of Edinburg North with a time of 4.44 seconds. “He’s real fast,” said head coach Roy Garza of Edinburg North. High School Sports Magazine also hosted a 16-team HSSM/Dairy Queen Seven-on-Seven Football Tournament. Edcouch-Elsa defeated Edinburg North 28-6 in the finals. Head coach Joe Solis of Edcouch-Elsa was impressed with the entire event as teams gathered to play and participate. “I was surprised to see how organized this event was, so our hats off to High School Sports Magazine for making this successful,” said Solis.

ALEX TREVINOMercedes High School

Postion: Running Back2008-09 Classification: 12

FAST FACTS

2008 UPCOMING GAME Mercedes vs Port-Lavaca

Calhoun HSDave Campbell’s Football

Classic Game 2008Alamodome-San Antonio, TxDate: August 30, 2008 7:30p

2007 STATS 1,204 rushing yards

“He’s fast and mature...” head coach Gilbert Leal

LAST BI-DISTRICT TITLE1999

The Mercedes Tigers could be the team to beat in 2008

vs Rockport Fulton 14-7


The event also drew interest from Sul Ross University, Lindenwood University, Mary-Hardin-Baylor, and TSTC of Harlingen. Head football coach Wayne Schroeder of Sul Ross State University was amazed. “This is awesome to have an event this big in South Texas and High School Sports Magazine did a great job organizing this event. This is going attract many more colleges in the future,” said Schroeder.

“This is awesome to have an event this big in South Texas and High School Sports Magazine did a great job...” Wayne Schroeder

Sul Ross State UniversityHead Football Coach


Jackets WinChampionship

7-on-7 HSSM Tournament


7-on-7 Champs. The Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets defeated Edinburg North in the first annual High School Sports

Magazine’s 7-on-7 Tournament held recently at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)

Great Catch. Sixteen teams played in the HSSM 7-on-7 Football Tournament sponsored by Dairy Queen/Lynn Lee Inc. of Pharr, Texas. (David A. Amador/HSSM IMages)


(Weslaco, Texas)-The Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets of District 32-4A made a statement as they defeated 30-5A Edinburg North 28-6 in the High School Sports Magazine’s Seven-on-Seven Football Tournament sponsored by Dairy Queen/Lynn Lee Inc. of the South Texas held at the Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco. Sixteen teams participated in the single-elimination tournament with PSJA Memorial, Rio Hondo, Edcouch-Elsa, and Edinburg North advancing to the semifinal round. Teams participating in the event were Port Isabel, Valley View, La Joya, Progreso, Santa Rosa, Nikki Rowe, Brownsville Porter, Harlingen South, La Villa, PSJA North, Mission Veterans, and Zapata. According to Weslaco High School head football coach Tony Villarreal, “Seven-on-Seven football is big in Texas and teams can play up to a 100 games if players hook up with traveling teams.”


Athletes Pay To Play?

b y D a v i d A. A m a d o r

“the time is coming for

schools to start selling corporate sponsorships ”

U nbelievable! A school district from the state of Utah is adding a $20 student

transportation fee because of the rising gas prices. This will affect all student activities, including sports. According to the Davis School District, they bus students to 19 different Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) a year. Each bus ride can cost up to $350 with the rising diesel prices. These fees are paid by the parents. Yikes! In Texas, schools districts are beginning to feel the pinch too. The Pasadena School District watched their fuel budget in 2005 increase from $800,000 annually to $1,000,000 dollars in 2008 and still unpredictably, climbing. So how can you project a fuel budget if it’s so unpredictable? Pasadena ISD also noted that their electricity costs surged from $6.7 million in 2005 to almost

$11 million in 2008. One school district has seen their diesel fuel prices jump 215% over a period of three years.

Like colleges, school districts will eventually be forced to start charging “student fees” in order to maintain their annual fuel budgets. In sports, we might even see higher ticket prices to off-set sport trips too. So what’s the solution? Corporate Sponsorships. School districts like Edinburg, Weslaco, and San Benito have invested in Mega-Scoreboards with Video/TV Screens. These scoreboards have brought in commission-free advertising revenues for schools and this revenue could help off-set fuel costs too. Another source of income could come from “corporate logos” on school sport uniforms. Better yet, big income could from selling “Stadium Name Rights.” Instead of naming a football stadium after a person, let “Pepsi” pay for the sponsorship and name it “Pepsi Coyote Stadium”. One high school football coach says that “the time is coming for schools to start selling corporate sponsorships to the big boys,” in turn, this will save taxpayers lots of dollars and increases. “Athletes should not pay to play,” says the football coach. “The bus rides should always be free.”

For more on “corporate ideas,” log on: www.thebreakoutgroup.comOnTheSideLines

School Districts To Add Bus Fees...

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High School Sports Magazine-April 2008 Issue