Brownwood Lions Mother’s Club annual awards banquet was held Thursday night and many Lions were honored for their accomplishments on and off the field, including two who won special scholarships.
Dallas Huston, emcee for the evening, highlighted some of the season’s accomplishments, including the 2011 season being the third consecutive year that the Lions have gone three games deep into the state playoffs. According to Huston, this is only the second time in history that the Lions have accomplished that feat. The first was accomplished by the 1969, 1970 and 1971 teams. He challenged the players that will be back in the 2012 season to make it a fourth year to play at least three games into the playoffs and make some new history.
“This was a good team, but it was not a lucky team. I think this team was on the verge of amazing not only all of its followers but the people across the state with how they were going to finish this year,” said Huston. “People were amazed with the 2010 Lions making it into the state semi finals and this team was about an inch away from making the semi finals as well.”
Huston attributed health as one of the team’s problems this year, stating that if they had just had a break or two health wise (injuries plaguing the team throughout the season), the season could have been much different.
Huston also spoke of how teams from year to year teach their coaches and followers important lessons.
“One thing we have learned from you this year is that it doesn’t matter how hard you get knocked down, it’s whether or not you get back up,” said Huston who said the team did just that “over and over again.”
Brownwood High School Athletic Director and Head Coach Bob Shipley explained that it was a tough year.
“As a coaching staff, I don’t know that we have ever worked any harder than we did this season,” said Shipley. “I learned a lot about myself, human nature and about just having fun.”
Shipley spoke of his father’s battle with cancer and passing during the season and how that affected his coaching. He stated that he realized late in the season that he wasn’t having fun and that maybe he was not being an encouraging coach.
“After the Wylie game I realized I was taking it out on the kids, and I told them I was sorry. I hoped they learned a lesson from me, ‘how not to handle defeat.’ I told the kids that we’re going to stop talking about the things that we cannot do and accentuating what we can do,” said Shipley. “At that point our season changed. I started seeing these kids in a whole different light, seeing things in them that I had not seen before, hadn’t looked for before and I grew as a man, came to appreciate these kids and what they were doing. They were playing as hard as they could. I really think the guys started having fun. When I stopped dogging them all the time, the whole season changed.”
Despite the injuries and trials the Lions went through, the theme of the evening’s speeches seemed to reflect the effort and the ‘never give up spirit’ that these 2011 Lions showed.
Many players were recognized for their athletic and academic skills. Two of these players also received the following scholarships:
Deborah Ellis Memorial Scholarship: Jose Avila. Presenting the Deborah Ellis Memorial Scholarship, in honor of his late wife, was District Court Judge Stephen Ellis.
Chris Hart Memorial Scholarship: Johnathan McDonald. Presenting the Chris Hart Memorial Scholarship was Brownwood High School Principal Bill Faircloth.
The 2011 highlight video was unveiled and available for sale through the Lions Mother’s Club.
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