Those who say Dorchester's male student-athletes aren't hungry to compete have not met this season's Longhorn boys basketball team.So can the Longhorns hang tough this year?
Our sources say yes, thanks to leaders like senior Corey Bird and emerging talent like Tim Havlat.
Seniors on the team include Bird, Nixon Nerud, Leo Conte and Stephan Heiermeier. They will need to provide key leadership roles if the DHS squad is to improve on its 6-16 mark from last season.
The new season tips off Friday night at DHS against Meridian.
Representing the Dorchester School and community this year will be 12 boys, as pictured above, (seated) Stephan Heiermeier, Leo Conte, Corey Bird, Nixon Nerud, (kneeling) student manager Ridge Hoffman, Ryan Weber, Anthony Cardona, Tim Havlat, Dustin Nelson, Augustine Perez, (standing) Anthony Bonilla, assistant coach Miles Ray, head coach Adrian Allen, assistant coach Grant Cole, Cody Youngblood and student Colyn Brummett. (Photo is courtesy of BJ Fictum.)
Here's the schedule for the 2014-15 DHS boys basketball team:
12/05/14 Meridian
12/09/14 Diller-Odell
12/12/14 @ BDS
12/16/14 @ Harvard
12/18/14 Osceola
01/03/15 St. Edward
01/06/15 College View Academy
01/08/15 Sterling
01/13/15 @ Friend
01/15/15 @ East Butler
01/16/15 @ High Plains Community
01/20/15 @ Cross County
01/23/15 @ Shelby-Rising City
01/24-01/30 (To Be Determined) Crossroads Conference Tournament at York
02/03/15 Parkview Christian
02/05/15 Nebraska Lutheran
02/06/15 Giltner
02/10/15 @ Hampton
02/13/15 @ McCool Junction
02/20/15 Exeter-Milligan
I am so glad that Dorchester students and families weren't bullied into cooping basketball with Milford this year. I believe that the school board predicted about 7 boys going out for basketball this season and look, there are 12! Wow! Thanks to everyone that helped keep basketball in our town. Now, we need to start working on getting our football team back.
ReplyDeleteI was at the school board meetings where the coop with Milford was discussed, both last year and this year. It never seemed to me that any bullying was going on at any of the meetings. It was clear at the football meetings that we did not have enough boys to effectively field a team. The year before, there were 10 boys out and this left only two boys to substitute, if needed, and most of the boys would have to play on "both sides of the ball". Young men of that age are susceptible to many pressures; peer pressure to do well, pressure from themselves to not let their teammates down, and sometimes the less than subtle pressure from parents or members of the community to "toughen up", "grow a set", or "we played under worse conditions". We encourage our young men and ladies to participate in team sports, because of the many intangibles they gain from that participation. We would do the students and the school a genuine disservice if we had insisted they every available boy go out for football. The solution was to let those boys interested in football play with Milford, until such a time as we are able to field an effective football team. This was a win-win situation as the boys who are continuing to play will form an experienced core for the team, once our surging elementary population reaches Junior and Senior high school. If we, as a community encourage participation in midget football, as we do baseball, it will help the process along.
DeleteWhen the discussion turned to basketball this year, it was a completely different situation. We have more that enough willing, and very able female students to play basketball, however there was a concern that not enough boys would play, based on the initial figures presented to the Board. The overwhelming support by the folks in attendance to retain the basketball program here in town, coupled with the insistence that there were more boys wanting to play that the survey by the school showed, led the Board to table the question and keep basketball here. This has proven to be a very good decision as more than enough boys signed up to play. This team, led by our capable Seniors, will grow in experience (they already have a winning attitude) and represent us well during the season.
Lets face it, we have a very feminine society now and football is not in fashion in many circles, including among overly protective parents who have never had to compete for much in life. Truth hurts.
DeleteWe need to get about half a dozen foreign students like friend does
ReplyDeleteWhat does this have to do with the boys who are out for basketball? Are you saying they are not good enough so you should get some foreign students just for this purpose? What a lame statement you made. When I was in high school (yes, I am an alum of DHS), we always had foreign exchange students in school. What happened that there are no exchange students anymore? I think Friend has families who are willing to open their homes to these students to give them a chance to see the world. They don't go looking for athletic kids, They only get to choose between male and female, not if they are good in sports. Why are there not many families in Dorchester willing to open their homes and have kids from other countries stay with them anymore? I hope you have a winning season this year in both boys and girls basketball and everyone has a good time playing. Isn't that what sportsmanship is about? Just saying....
DeleteYou do what you got to do
ReplyDeleteIam very proud of the young men and women, that have gone out for basketball, this year: I goes to show you that Dorchester kids, have pride and are willing to work hard, to show everyone, that our school sports program is worth fighting for. Even if they don't win a lot of games, these kids, are all great, and are willing to put out the effort of trying, Win or lose, there all winners in my book, just for trying.
ReplyDelete