Losing the big game provides life lessons, long-term benefits

I see it every year and as the fall sports season wrapped up this last week, I saw it again. The image of athletes sitting on the ground, emotionally crushed after a season ending defeat. It’s different than a game with nothing at stake, but a game that decided who would continue to play and who would go home. Tears streaming down their face, you’ll find that even the toughest of kids will shed them. Teammates embracing each other as some may have just played their final game. They won’t leave the playing field until forced to as they try to hold on as long as they can to something they’ve put their entire soul into. I’ve witnessed it many times and even been a part of it myself a time or two. Once you get past the thought of a different result, you begin to think of what the experience means to the players. With an entire life in front of them, the process of dedicating yourself to something bigger than an individual, putting in the effort to excel towards success, and making the sacrifices needed to reach a goal will benefit them in the long run.

Although ending the season on a losing note is something no athlete wants to do, for those with their sights set on state titles, it can only become a reality for one team each year. While an outsider may observe an athlete’s tears as weakness, they’ve sorely mistaken what are really tears of strength. Not strength in what is the current moment, but the strength they’ll take with them into the rest of their lives. While they hear it from their coaches and they repeat it in clichés themselves, the lessons athletes learn from competing aren’t fully self-recognized immediately, if ever. They’re taken unknowingly away from the playing field into many of the situations adults find themselves in everyday whether it is at work, with your family, or in the community. Passion, teamwork, responsibility, etc. All are hopefully applied in some form or another.

Watching high school sports isn’t just the observation of X’s and O’s being strategically played out, but also the development of young people before your very eyes. One of the things I enjoy most about my job isn’t watching someone score a long touchdown, sink a three-pointer, or hit a homerun, but observe how the athletes handle themselves afterwards. As true in sports and life, the way people handle success and failure is a part of what defines someone’s character and that is what is built in high school athletics. Even though those grim moments after failure have set in are painful and hard to face, you hope it’s something positive they take away from it, because it won’t be the last time they’ll have to face not achieving their goals, but the experience will push them to reach for new ones.

As a fan and observer, those moments are sometimes uncomfortable to be around, but in the end I’d rather watch a team that had something to play for struggle to comprehend a season ending loss than to watch them walk off the field as if it never mattered at all.

Park Hill Soccer falls short of second Final Four after 2OT/shootout to Rockhurst

After Ray Lee’s goal with 30:16 to go in the second half of the state quarterfinal game last weekend between Park Hill and Rockhurst put the Trojans up 2-0, it looked like it was a cushion that would send Park Hill to its second consecutive state semifinal appearance. Less than 15 seconds later, the game took a considerable turn, as Rockhurst’s Doug Stevenson scored the Hawklets’ first goal to cut the margin to one and shift the game’s momentum.

“Giving up a goal that fast is tough to come back from,” Park Hill coach Dustin Sollars said. “That set the tone for the latter part of the second half.”

With the high stakes, it was a second half that created some fireworks on the field as the physical nature of both teams took over creating the need for the referee to stop play several times to issue yellow cards and threaten players with ejection. It added even more drama to already adrenaline-filled players and fan bases to focus their frustrations on the referee.

“There were a few questionable calls the kids didn’t understand. There were some things earlier in the game not called and then they were called in the second half. For that intense of a game, he did a decent job. It could have gone either way,” Sollars said.

Another Stevenson goal with 10 minutes to play tied the game ultimately sending it into overtime. Both teams were hanging on by a thread, knowing that the next goal would mean the difference between hanging up their cleats for the season and making a trip to St. Louis. A Ray Lee goal was negated with eight minutes to go in overtime when offsides was called.

Neither team produced a goal in two overtime periods, which led to a five-kick penalty shootout to settle the difference. Both teams scored on their first attempt, but the Trojans’ next two shots bounced off the goal’s cross bar. Park Hill goalie Shane VanHooser deflected Rockhurst’s third shot while Joel Gordon and Ray Lee converted the Trojans’ final two kicks. With one Rockhurst attempt left, the penalty kicks were even at three and VanHooser needed a save to force another round. One kick for all the marbles. It wasn’t to be for Park Hill, as Rockhurst’s Alex Buckner netted the final shot to propel the Hawklets into the state semifinals with a 3-2 victory resulting from the 4-3 shootout and an eruption of cheers from the Rockhurst faithful.

It isn’t the finish they had envisioned, but the Trojans finish the year 24-3-1 with conference and district titles. While they didn’t surpass last year’s run into the state semifinals, this year’s team is arguably the school’s best in history. For a senior class that’s played their final game in Trojan red, they’re able to look back on how in four years they were able to put Park Hill soccer on the map with some of the Metro’s best.

“It’s tough for them to recognize what they’ve accomplished. They’ll live in this moment for the next couple hours, but they know what they’ve done and they understand it,” Sollars said. “I’m incredibly proud of them. The standard they’ve set and the respectability they’ve brought back to the program,” Sollars said.

Even after such an emotional loss, Sollars wanted his players to know their achievements aren’t defined by one game, no matter how big the game, and there’s a more important long-term focus.

“There are bigger things going on. This is a tremendous group of young men who are going to go on to be great at everything they do, good fathers, good husbands. It was a pleasure working with them for four years,” Sollars said.

Local Republican candidates see 'trickle down' effect in 2010 mid-terms

It’s been about a week since the 2010 mid-term elections and those who took interest in campaigns at different levels have been able to absorb the results and breakdown individual races by now. While there are plenty of people you can turn to for their opinions on the change of power at the federal level in the House of Representatives, there were also some things to note on the local level right here in Platte County regarding Republican victories in all contests.

A popular political phrase says all politics are local. I usually agree, but it seems 2010’s mid-term elections and the Republican Party’s sweep of each elected office on the ballot in Platte County didn’t make for one of the phrase’s strongest arguments because the national political environment shaped nearly every race in Platte County. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, most well-informed citizens could see the tide that was coming on the federal level with Republican gains. History tells us that after two years of strong one-party control of two houses of Congress and the Presidency, and only small improvements on the economy it was bound to happen. Democrats were likely to lose a considerable amount of seats.

Without a credible congressional challenge to Republican incumbent Congressman Sam Graves for a debate regarding these federal issues, it appears those debates and considerations were then passed down to the local level. Republican candidates used this to their advantage. From U.S. Senate to County Commission to State Representative, Republican and conservative candidates used a series of focused, consistent messages: out of control spending, job creation, and lower taxes. Every candidate made their campaign about the federal level and used it in their local race. Whether it applied to the respective office being campaigned for or not, it didn’t matter.

Although Republicans might want to disagree, Election Night brought some surprises, especially when incumbents County Clerk Sandy Krohne, County Auditor Siobhann Williams, and State Representative Jason Grill were defeated. Most political observers saw these office holders as strong enough to survive, even despite a high conservative voter turnout. More Independents and/or Republicans voted for these incumbents compared to open seats as indicated by their closer margins, but many of the races featuring open seats such as Presiding Commissioner, County Collector, 29th and 30th State Representative, and State Senator appeared to have similar percentages, indicating the possibility many voters voted on straight party ticket basis.

In an election with these results, it’s not common to see Independents break against the tide so it’s likely they broke Republican. When you mix in an extremely low turnout from the Democratic base, you’ve got your recipe for a complete sweep. For example, in Riverside, traditionally one of the strongest Democratic areas in the county, Jason Grill split the vote exactly 50/50 with challenger Ron Schieber. It isn’t likely Riverside became more independent in 2010, but more likely many traditionally Democrats didn’t vote. Democrats across the state believe this could have been one trickledown effect of a poorly managed campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan and its inability to generate support and encouragement from Democratic voters in her bid against Roy Blunt to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Kit Bond.

With this election year in the books, residents will only get a brief break from what now seems like constant campaigning. Not only is the 2012 presidential race already shaping up, but local school board elections are this spring. In southern Platte County, voters can also look forward to what guarantees to be an interesting race for Mayor of Kansas City.

Trojans fall in playoff rematch against Staley

It’s always hard to beat a good team twice, especially when it is such an all-around solid team like the Staley Falcons. The Park Hill Trojans beat Staley in the district opener just a few weeks ago on a dramatic come from behind victory 27-24, but on Monday night in the sectional round of the Missouri state playoffs the magic just wasn’t there for a Trojans’ second straight upset as they fell 28-6. The contest was the second game of a double-header at Park Hill District Stadium following the Park Hill South and Raytown South game.

The first half was full of ups and downs for both teams with each seeing several opportunities to score, but losing steam as they approached the red zone. With a strong wind, several field goal attempts were tried unsuccessfully. Tied at zero late in the second quarter, Park Hill was forced to punt from their own end zone. Staley broke through the line and blocked the punt with Kaleb Sweet recovering it in the end zone to put Staley up 7-0 going into halftime.

The lone scoring highlight for the Trojans came on a 58-yard break away run from Trace Norfleet in the third quarter. After the point after failed, the score was cut to just 7-6 in Staley’s favor. Unfortunately for Park Hill, the bend, but don’t break defense that had helped them all year came apart in the fourth quarter as Staley scored on runs of 20, 10, and four yards to conclude time consuming drives. Park Hill was unable to match the offensive explosion of Staley as the Falcons claimed redemption the second time around with a 28-6 victory over the Trojans.

Staley improved to 10-2 on the year and will play Park Hill South on Saturday afternoon. Park Hill concludes the season with a 7-4 record.

Park Hill wins district soccer title, set sights on playoff run

One sure way to win a championship is to not give up any points to the other team. That simple approach led the Park Hill boys soccer team to their second consecutive Class 3, District 16 title last week. A 4-0 win over host-school Staley led to a rematch of last year’s title game between the Trojans and Park Hill South. A cool, windy night required both teams to adapt to the gusts going through North Kansas City’s District Athletic Complex. With the wind in their favor in the first half, the Panthers put forward several shots that the Trojan defense and goalie Shane VanHooser were able to control. Even against the wind, Nick Shepherd’s goal 25 minutes into the first half put Park Hill up 1-0 going into halftime. It was David Zdvorak and Cole Walker who put in the final scores to lead the Trojans to a 3-0 championship victory.

“We were lucky to get out of there the first half without giving up a goal,” Coach Dustin Sollars said. “We come back and were fortunate to have the wind.”

The Trojans now prepare for a Class 3 sectional game matchup on Tuesday night with Kearney, who upset top-seeded Liberty. A win sets up a quarterfinal game with the Rockhurst/Lee’s Summit North game winner on Saturday at Park Hill. After a trip to the final four of the state playoffs last year, the Trojans hope to return this year and capitalize on momentum they’ve had all season that’s led to a 23-2 record. The experience of last year’s playoff run will allow Park Hill to focus more on specific areas of their game instead of the psychological side.

“Last year we spent a lot of time working on being mentally prepared and getting ready for something the kids hadn’t been a part of before,” Sollars said. “Now we have a lot of kids who have been there, so hopefully we can fix some things on the field and it will help us this year.”

The run Park Hill hopes to go on isn’t just a continuation of last year’s third place finish, but a culmination for a group of seniors who were told four years ago they could be unique.

“We’ve been telling them for four years they have a chance to do something special. Now they’re starting to see that come alive,” Sollars said. “One of those early days in August we sat down and talked about goals and they want to win a state championship. They feel really confident they can do that.”

An advantage they believe they have over the competition is their midfield and not just their skilled starters, Parker Melott and Ray Lee, but also the depth behind them.

“One thing that sets us apart is the play of our midfield. I think we have the best in the state with Parker and Ray along with some very good backups in Ricardo (Garcia) and Wendell (Thomas) who would start on any other team,” Sollars said.

While the experienced Trojan squad will use their remaining practice days to make on-field adjustments, Park Hill’s overall talent will be something to watch with a group of players who are not only athletic, but play together better than any Sollars has seen.

“I think we’re strong enough where if one guy is having an off night, somebody picks it up,” Sollars said. “We have some players who can take the game into their own hands and if they can do that early I don’t think a lot of teams can play with us.”

Trojans are district champs, wait for Staley/Fort Osage winner in sectionals

To the victor go the spoils as the old saying goes. Park Hill’s three game winning streak came right on time as they swept through district play to claim their tenth title in eleven years by beating St. Joe Central 31-20 last Friday. They’ll also reap the benefits of a well-earned bye week. The winner of Wednesday’s Staley/Fort Osage regional round game will advance to play the Trojans in the sectional game to be played Monday, November 8th at Park Hill. While Park Hill (7-3) is no stranger to district championships, they’ll be looking to win their first playoff game in four years.

Although being in this situation is nothing new for a Greg Reynolds led football team, for this particular group they’ve overcome what they see as lowered expectations coming into this season compared to years past.

“It’s great, you can’t put anything on it,” Quarterback Nate Wilson said. “Everyone was talking this season about us being down. It’s not only about proving it to everyone else, but also proving it to ourselves as well.”

“I don’t know if people were expecting a down year, but maybe they weren’t expecting what we were last year because of the senior class lost. This year’s senior class really came together and did some things. The guys returning had something to prove. I guarantee not one person out there thought we’d beat Staley to win a district championship,” Reynolds said.

Not at complete strength for most of the season, Park Hill saw more injury problems last Friday night against Central as running back Trace Norfleet and lineman Ondre Pipkins left the game early. But before his departure, it was Norfleet’s 42 yard touchdown reception from Wilson that put the Trojans up 13-0 following two Neal Sampson field goals (25, 24 yards). Then, it was Jordan Wang’s two touchdown runs of 33-yards a piece that put the Trojans up 31-7 going into the third quarter.

Wang, who has been a firecracker on both sides of the ball for the Trojans this season, is one of Park Hill’s most vocal leaders on the field. The unique way he gets pumped up prior to kickoff and his yells to shake off a hard hit are something that keeps him and his teammates’ adrenaline running.

“It just comes natural to me,” Wang said of his leadership approach. “It’s just like family, got to watch out for your younger brothers and teach them your ways.”

“We both got fired up tonight, but we always give him a hard time before kick off because he’s jumping around and everything,” Wilson said of his teammate.

Two late touchdowns weren’t enough for Central as the Trojans sealed a 31-20 victory. No matter which opponent Park Hill faces next Monday, they’ll be familiar with the opposition. A potential Staley (8-2) rematch from just a few weeks ago could be in the works or a fourth consecutive playoff meeting with Fort Osage (7-3). Neither opponent will be taken lightly by the Trojans, but their immediate concerns are internal and focused on self-improvement and the ever-important factor of concentration.

“I think get healthy is a big thing,” Wilson said. “Concentrate on ourselves more than the other team and really gain our focus back.”

“We’re just going to work on the little things,” Reynolds said. “On Friday nights, it comes down to the guys on the field. When you get into the playoffs, and you’re playing in the second round you’re going to be playing good teams and if you’re not close to perfect you can lose.”

Fall Roundup: Oct. 25-30

Park Hill Boys Soccer
Park Hill Soccer earned their second consecutive conference title last week as they completed an undefeated conference schedule by beating St. Joe Central 6-1 with two goals a piece from David Zdvorak and Nick Shephered along with goals from Ray Lee and Kevin Madera. They followed it up with a 2-0 win over North Kansas City with both goals coming from Zdvorak. Park Hill completed their regular season 21-2-1. They'll play Tuesday night against the winner of the Staley/St. Joe Central game in hopes of playing for the district title Thursday night at Staley High.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country
After placing first in the district meet two week's ago, Kim Rau again led the Trojans at the sectional meet this past weekend as she finished 16th overall. As a team, Park Hill finished last in eighth place with 166 team points. The state meet will be held this Saturday, November 6, in Jefferson City at the Oak Hills Golf Center.
 
Park Hill Boys Swim and Dive
Park Hill Swim and Dive pulled away with their second consecutive conference championship this past weekend as they racked up 598 points to land in front of Lee's Summit West followed by St. Joe Central. First place finishes came from Chris Greger in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle, Toby Parker in the one meter dive, Ben Svoboda in the 100 yard butterfly, Bryce Kober in the 100 yard breaststroke, and the 200 yard freestyle relay. The state swim meet is next weekend at the St. Peters Rec-Plex