This blog goes out to the UTM Women’s Basketball Team:
Wow. What a game! For that matter, what an amazing season!
Despite the deck being stacked against you, you played incredibly well. We are proud of you. ALWAYS remember that.
It’s alright to lose. Obviously we all wanted that “W,” but you’ve done something very valuable for not only UTM, but the Martin community.
You gave us hope. You gave us a chance. You gave us yet another reason to be “proud to be a Skyhawk!”
When you get a chance, skim through social media posts from Sunday, March 23. You’ll see something that hasn’t happened in awhile, if ever.
All but five posts in my Facebook news feed were by people who were proud to be a Skyhawk, and who were thrilled that you made it into the NCAA Tournament. I haven’t seen that much posted about UTM, even during Homecoming. That says something.
You’ve brought light into the athletics program. Through your hard work and dedication UTM has been competing at the national level in basketball for four years now.
I don’t think it will stop with this upcoming year either.
You’ve set the foundation for an impressive program. So, thank you. What you’ve all done, especially over the past four years, is nothing short of spectacular.
Thank you for giving us a team to root for in March Madness. Thank you for the countless hours you’ve put into training to get where you are now. You have inspired us all to work harder and strive to be the best.
I hope that we can return the favor to you.
Students are recognizing that you have consistently competed at the national level. I hope that we can show how proud we are of you, and the rest of the athletic teams, by showing up to more games. One by one athletic teams at UTM have continuously ranked at the national level, and you are adding to that ever-growing tradition.
Despite us as a whole not being there at your games cheering you on, you’ve still gone above and beyond to represent us. It’s something that I do believe will get better, especially with Julio Freire working so hard as the new Athletics Director to get students there. It’ll happen. It’s just taken us a little bit to get into the swing of things.
Over the next few weeks as everything sinks in, do us a favor: keep your head held high and look forward to the future. You’ve changed the experience for UTM students for the better. That’s something to be proud of.
It may be hard to remember that, but I hope you do.
You’ve created memories that you’ll never forget. In doing so, you’ve given us some of our own.
I hope you also remember that this is how greatness starts. One game at a time. One season at a time. One tournament at a time. Soon, that will be one tournament win at a time. You’ve made that possible. You’ve made that giant first step for us. Personally, I can’t wait to see how the team does next year.
A special shout out goes to Coach Kevin McMillan and the rest of the coaching staff, as well as the family members and support staff for the team.
You’ve all fought hard for us, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
From one of many Skyhawk fans,
Thank you.
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