Go West Young Man

I have gotten several responses on the blog and that lets me know people are reading. I have even had a couple of colleagues in the conference ask about it and they seem to be interested in writing their own blog for their schools.

It has been a whirlwind first two weeks to the school year and their have been some interesting results from our events so far. As conference play begins this weekend one thing has become very apparent. Last year we were so lucky to have senior-laden teams in a lot of our fall sports. We graduated some players a year ago that will no doubt be future Hall of Famers at HSU in several sports. From a quick count off the top of my head we had at least eight seniors from a year ago that are no doubters, they had that big of an impact on the school and their teams.

When that type of leadership is gone, you have to find new leaders and players have to step into new roles. That has been the case in several sports this season. Coaches use the non-conference schedule to get their teams ready for conference play and to make whatever adjustments are necessary.

I am totally confident in all of our coaches to adjust their teams around their personnel. All four fall sport teams lost players that were not only great players and leaders, but all four lost some players that were starters from the time they stepped on campus. That is the fun part about their job is to take a team and try to make it better from the start of preseason training all the way to the end of the year. Our coaches have excelled at doing that and I am sure they will again.

The men's soccer team has two seniors, one junior and the rest are freshmen and sophomores. There is a lot of talent on the team but it is young and will take time to develop. They are looking for an identity after graduating their top two scorers from a year.

The same thing is true on the football team. The defense lost eight starters from a year ago and the offense lost six starters. That is a lot of experience and talent to replace. It will take some time for those leaders to develop. It is a nice luxury to have guys that have started 20 or more games to lead a team like the Cowboys had last year.

The women's soccer team seems to be in the same situation. The Cowgirls had some strong leaders that were seniors last year. The team has a lot of talent returning, but when you talk about losing three seniors that started basically every game of their careers and two more that played key roles throughout their career and players have always looked to them for guidance there is going to be some bumpy spots. Different players are having to step into that role this year.

Volleyball lost maybe the best player to ever play for HSU in Virginia Aguilar and Holly Amerena was a solid floor leader. The Cowgirls have had to replace them and also have had to adjust to a new coach. That takes some immediate adjustments on their part as well. If you haven't noticed the Cowgirls have played a brutal non-conference schedule and are 3-4. They have played four teams that went to the national tournament a year ago. The Cowgirls played No. 7 Trinity tough, winning a game from them for the first time. HSU lost in five games to No. 22 Pacific Lutheran. They seem primed to start conference play.

All four teams are talented and all four will compete for the conference titles. It may take some time, but that is what makes athletics fun, seeing the teams develop over the year.

Another of the favorite parts of my job is the time I get to spend traveling with our teams. It is so nice to get them away from Abilene and see different parts of the country. It is also nice to see how our kids act when we go on the road. They are polite, respectful and most of the time are business-like in their approach to the trip. You really get to know players and teams a lot better when you get on the road with them for a few days.

I have traveled all over the United States with our teams and it is a learning experience each time. For as long as I have been at HSU, we have basically been known as the Road Crew. Some people have gone in and some have gone out, but basically it is athletic director John Neese, facilities director Tim McCarry, myself and then radio announcers Phil Ashby and Al Pickett. John, Tim and I have been on all of these trips over the years and it really is a fun experience to travel with this group.

There are so many stories that we should probably write a book some day, but then again no one would believe it. So we are off on another journey this weekend to the Great Northwest. It will be our first trip to Portland.