Somebody buy these young ladies a Fresca, they’ve earned it
Because nothing says “thank you” like the carbonated citrusy goodness of this fine soft drink. And if anybody had earned the right to wet their whistles it’s the Little Giants volleyball leadership triad of Norah Curtis, Rachel Binda and Haley Quesenbery.
Why? you ask. It’s simple. Binda, a junior who is slowly morphing into a great volleyball player along with seniors Curtis and Quesenbery have taken on new roles, roles this team desperately needed last season but never got—leaders.
The trio have proved it by welcoming in a few underclassmen into the mix off the school’s JV program. Namely, LaToya Diggs (remember, the best defensive basketball player in the state, according to her coach Secrett Stubblefield) and Shayla Jackson.
They’ve taken these new girls under their wings and it has helped produce a turnaround year that nobody saw coming from the Little Giants team.
Last season, Waynesboro was the absolute bottom of the barrel.
No communication, selfish play and losses were the name of the game in 2007.
In 2008, it’s been a 5-2 Southern Valley District record, tons of talking on the court and team play that would (and should) make any member of the 2007 squad blush. And yes, we’ll include these three girls in that mix because they were on the team last year and, for some reason, didn’t step up to take charge.
But hey, you can’t blame them. Can you? Last season Binda was a sophomore who still played like one, Curtis and Quesenbery were juniors on a team that had some seniors that should have stepped up. But those seniors didn’t. And, well, when you’re a sophomore and a junior, you should be looking up at someone else to take the lead.
Thankfully, this season Binda knows what she is (good and getting great), Quesenbery knows what role she has to play (remember when, during that magical 2005 run cut short by a too-low ceiling in a gym that, and let’s be honest here, had no right. No. Right. Hosting the Group AA Final Four, and every time the one they dubbed “Q-Bullet” hammered home four straight aces, the long-gone Waynesboro Wild Ones would chant, “She’s a freshman” clap, clap,clap, clap, clap, “She’s a freshman”? Remember? Of course you do.) And Curtis, as a senior, has joined the fun as well.
Binda gives out some constructive criticisms because, as she puts it, she doesn’t want to be negative. Quesenbery reminds the girls how important it is that when they come up through the program together, they have to learn to communicate early on. (Something she should know, having played with the likes of Morgan Fox, Sarah Coffey, Cynthia Atkins and the rest of that group that everybody pegged as “something special” back when they were putting Spalding-sized craters in the Kate Collins gym floor). And Curtis, well, Curtis decides just because she’s older and wiser, that she’s not any better than any of the other girls.
Sorry, Norah, but we’re going to disagree with you on that. Because this season could have and should have been a repeat of last season’s debacle if nothing changed. Thankfully, players like you, Binda and Quesenbery decided enough was enough. You stepped it up on the court. You stepped it up as leaders.
And, because of that, your 5-2 record in no joke. Neither is the citrus taste of a fine soft drink. So go out and demand a Fresca. You’ve earned it.
Hey, the altruism with this Little Giants’ volleyball program doesn’t end with these three. The one hurt by moving Diggs and Jackson up to varsity is JV coach Jemise Sandidge who, no doubt, would still love to see these girls on her roster.
“In the beginning Latoya wanted to come back [to JV]. I told her, ‘no’,“ she said. “It hurt us when they [Diggs and Jackson] left, but I told them that they could do it. Now they are doing well playing at the varsity level. This is just a training ground to get players to that next level.“
And don’t forget about second-year coach Lori Aleshire in this whole deal, someone who had enough foresight to see that, yes, these two would contribute on the varsity a level and, more importantly that, yes, she’s finally got some leaders on the varsity team that could help her mold these two.
Shoot, make it a round of Frescas (Fresci?) for everybody in Giantdom for this one.
And another thing: As Riverheads was running all over and through Parry McCluer weeks ago in football, it was easy to notice former Gladiator Tommy Lloyd as he leaned up against the fence and watched his old team, once again, hammer away at the Blues.
What made him easy to notice? How about that VMI ring the size of an asteroid on his finger.
But, I digress.
Stopping along the sidelines to chat with him, we got talking about his old coach Robert Casto and the role he played in his life.
“You know,“ I told him. “Whenever I mention your name to [Casto] his eyes light up.“
It’s true, folks. They do.
Lloyd just smiled and looked back toward the field.
“He’s a good man,“ he said. Then repeated it. “He’s a good man.“
So Casto, last Friday, grabs his 100th win as Riverheads coach. In the eyes of Lloyd and plenty of other ex players, he never needed that to validate his career.
The way he treats those guys has been and always will be, validation enough.
Final thoughts: My Friday Night Picks will be posted tomorrow (Friday). Oh, and have you joined the Pooch Punt fanpage yet on Facebook? Just asking.
