Health & Fitness
A Big Fan of Lawson Middle School Sports Awards Night
Why the girl who was picked last in gym grew up to actually enjoy being in a gym packed with middle school athletes.
If you had asked me 20 years ago what I look forward to for a night out, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have answered “Why, Lawson Middle School’s Sports Award Night, of course”.
Even overlooking how Lawson Middle School didn’t exist 20 years ago, at that time I wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, didn’t particularly like kids, and had never enjoyed playing any sports. But there I was last week, excited for Thursday evening to come.
Sports Awards night is when all the teams from all five of the school’s sports seasons tramp one at a time to the front of the gym to be honored. The audience of parents sits with cameras poised for their kid’s moment in the sun. Each coach gives a little speech, which is truly heartfelt, but always seems to be a close variant to one of these:
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Coach’s Speech – Variant A: “We had a great season this year. This team is a great bunch of kids. They worked really hard, didn’t give up, and I’m so impressed with how much they’ve achieved. We had a lot of fun together, and I expect them all to continue doing a great job in <insert sport name here>.
Coach’s Speech – Variant B: “Our win-loss record doesn’t really tell the whole story. This team is a great bunch of kids. They worked really hard, didn’t give up, and I’m so impressed with how much they’ve achieved. We had a lot of fun together, and I expect them all to continue doing a great job in <insert sport name here>.
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Then the coach announces the Most Valuable Player award, and the cameras click, the parents cheer, and there’s always some flock of kids in the back who scream. That team trudges off to the side, and the parents race over to take more pictures.
So if it is so predictable, why do I look forward to it so much? Well, did I mention my kid played on three teams and won co-MVP in one of them? True, that's what gets me there, but there’s lots more to enjoy. It's fun to hobnob with the other parents, buy fund-raising raffle tickets for prizes I never win, and observe a herd of 13-year-olds in their natural environment.
But most of all, I enjoy seeing my daughter’s teams stand together one last time. These are a great bunch of kids. They worked really hard, didn’t give up, and I’m so impressed with how much they’ve achieved.
