While classes only started a week ago, Memorial athletics have been in full swing since the summer with workouts and practices.
Tennis played their first match against Amarillo Tascosa on Aug. 1 at the Rider High School tennis courts, as Memorial’s courts have been inaccessible with construction sites surrounding them.
The situation has been challenging logistically for coach Kimberly Walding who has needed the varsity team to transport itself to the now-closed high school.
“It hasn’t been tough up until now, now that school has started,” Walding said. “It could pose some difficulties, but we will work through it until we can practice here at the courts.”
Memorial’s volleyball team, who won their home opener against Henrietta Tuesday, is grateful to have had their gym and locker rooms done in time for tryouts the week before school.
“It has been a big culture change for us, it has added energy to our program and play and we are finally here,” coach Kelli Barnett said. “We are finally in Memorial. We are the Mavericks, we are a team. Being in there together has been really fun to watch as a coach.”
During tryouts Barnett had to work around orientations, making sure her players could still attend both.
“It was chaos, but in the best way,” Barnett said. “We were super busy, but the energy was so good from them and so it made coaching them super easy and such a good transition.”
Head football coach Marc Bindel is grateful to now be able to use the practice fields on campus because the first couple days of August the freshman team had to be bussed over to the stadium.
“Everything is just so nice,” Bindel said. “The people who designed it did a really good job and put a lot of time into it. It is really nice, a lot of space. All the teams have their own space to make it their own. We want to make sure it looks new and good.”
While almost all of the tennis team’s fall matches will be at Rider, Walding found out Wednesday afternoon that tennis could begin practicing on Memorial’s courts.
“When you finally get to go to your own courts, you have taken ownership of them, you take care of them and it becomes important to you,” Walding said. “That is what I am looking forward to and I think the kids are too.”
Bindel is looking forward to creating new traditions with his teams and letting his upperclassmen dictate how the year will go.
“We are doing everything new,” Bindel said. “I feel like the players should get the opportunity to set the tradition for years to come. So we are finding out what they want that to look like. Seniors this year have a huge responsibility of setting the foundation, regardless of whatever program that is, whether it is journalism, football, cross country or band. Our seniors get to set the traditions that could be around for 100 years.”
