Editor:
Now that the football season is over, the equipment is in, and the championships have
been determined; on behalf of the players, parents, and administration at Española Valley High School, I want to thank the fans and the community for their support of our players and their efforts to give the Española Valley a football program of which it can be proud.
Those of us directly involved in Sundevil Football, as well as our administration, are all dedicated to building a program focused on infusing our school with enthusiasm and sense of community commensurate with a first class educational institution while graduating all players.
When this year’s team first met in May 2008, 17 young men attended the meeting. Two of those young men had been starters in 2007. Two others had enjoyed substantial
playing time in the previous season. Of the 17 who attended that first meeting, only
seven decided to play in 2008.
This past season, the team had 42 players, 31 on whom will return next season at the
varsity level. Of those 31 returnees, 18 started at least one game in 2008. The largest class on next season’s team will be our junior class.
We also had one of the largest and most talented junior high programs this past season under the direction of Coach Griego. We cannot wait for those eighth grade student-athletes to join us next season.
As one New Mexico high school’s athletic handbook states, football “is the healthy focus of our community and our school.” Educators and sociologists from around the country have recognized that sports in general, and football in particular, encourages a sense of belonging and community on the part of players and spectators similar to a sense of membership in a family.
The health of a positive, competitive and dynamic football program has implications far beyond the playing field penetrating into the classroom and academic life of the entire school community.
The Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching, in its Campus Life: In Search of Community, found that athletic programs such as football, when competitive and well run, instills a sense of ownership and pride in the student community and the community at large. Research has shown that as the success of a football team improves, the grades of non-athletes in the school also improve.
Our commitment to athletics as an “academic” program is total. Athletics must be an
academic program in every sense at our high school. The team set a standard this season which will be our base line of achievement. With only four players attaining a grade point average below 3.0, our overall grade point average at the nine weeks was significantly above the school average.
Now, let’s get behind out boys and girls basketball programs and our wrestling team and their respective drives to the state championship.
Bill Moon
Española Valley High School
Football coach