The list of things missed feels miles long. As we continually cross events off the calendar and put an ‘X’ through plans, the reaction has dulled. There is no option, there is no alternative, there is no choice. Though Ken and I do not have school-aged kids at home anymore, I find my heart hurting particularly, for the high school seniors who are missing long awaited milestones and rites of passage. No prom, or senior sunset, or ceremony in the stadium surrounded by proud family, friends, teachers, and staff. I think of the entire season of high school sports, sacrificed. Our son Tanner played boys tennis at Pleasant Valley High. May brought the excitement of league then section finals and if all went well, a visit to the CIF Northern California Championships (Nor-Cals) held annually in Sacramento.
Never underestimate the power of a casual comment to a child. Tanner attended a friend’s tennis themed birthday party when he was about 10. Eli’s dad complimented Tanner’s tennis stroke noting he had natural talent and should consider tennis. Taken to heart, Tanner decided to pursue this sport. He began as so many locals have, at the 20th Street courts with longtime instructor, Jerry Brayton. He moved on to a junior membership at The Chico Racquet Club with lessons and eventually joined the travel team, playing year-round, weaving in tournaments and the high school season. During Tanner’s high school tennis career, he was fortunate to be surrounded by some serious tennis talent. Many of these boys had been playing since they could hold a racquet and several sets of brothers were part of the mix. All of these skilled players were part of the year-round team at the racquet club and all attended PV, leading to total league dominance in boys high school tennis during those years.
The PV boys team made an annual pilgrimage to Nor-Cals in May, where ironically, the resulting victories had almost nothing to do with tennis. Though our team was locally unbeatable and had deep talent, they were not quite as competitive against the Bay Area private school teams. While our boys looked spiffy in their team designed blue and white tech-shirts, those teams showed up to Nor-Cals in head to toe matching custom uniforms and school logo emblazoned coordinating tennis bags. Private school courts are filled with top notch, recruited players, many of whom have been trained by private coaches for years. They rarely lose. Occasionally, one of our top players would win a singles match in the first round, or a doubles team could have a lucky draw and advance one bracket. The Viking teams’ best shot for a trophy was not for tennis, but for a team cheer.
Prior to the start of play at Nor-Cals, each team goes to center court and performs a team cheer which energizes the crowd and the players. Judges award prizes to the top three performances. The cheer contest was taken seriously, at least it was by our boys. Twelve players were selected to attend the tournament, and these are all boys who serve, smash, volley and backstroke better than most, but not all are rhythmically gifted. Getting this right took weeks of rehearsal and dedicated cheer practice that prepared them to excel. There was choreography to create and timing to master. They usually ended up with a mashup of military style marching with moving formations, then slick foot work that merged them into a giant circle for the finish. Throughout the performance, there was always a variation of cheer-yelling phrases in unison and the finale was always the PV favored repeat-after-me chant.
“V-V-VIK, K-K-KIN, N-N-NGS, Vikings, Vikings, Hoo-ah, Hoo-ah, Yay!”
They had only 60 seconds to leave it all on the court. Their hard work showed, and PV was the team to beat, in the cheer contest, year after year. They placed all four years and won first prize, twice. Many thought that they were robbed of a third victory as rumors swirled that the judges wanted other teams to have a chance to place first with their cheer and gave PV second prize.
It is regretful our tennis players did not get to have their season and missed their shot at league and section finals. No one cheered or played in Sacramento at Nor-Cals this year. Although watching those amazingly proficient athletes on the court was exciting and memorable, the cheer contest was surely a high point. I am cheering for next season’s hopeful return of all of the above. This will be a victory for us all.
Rear View | Reflections on Life's Adventures 