Graduation, Class of 2013

Justin looks back

Justin started every 8th grade baseball game this season. Hope he still has an arm.

I still remember the first time the man named Mr. Bryan Cheung walked into our third grade classroom. We all just simply stared at him. Not in awe, kind of more on the freaked-out side because his face looked too interesting...Just kidding.

He started talking about how we could participate in a sports program at St. Mary’s. “Oh,” I thought. “Cool.” Little did anyone know that the Bryan Cheung Era would be more than just “cool.”

As the youngest class to participate in sports since the Bryan Cheung Era began, we will truly miss playing in team sports at St. Mary’s School, and we are more than thankful for the opportunities Bryan provided for everyone.

You know, back then, St. Mary’s was only known for its skillful basketball teams. Baseball teams were sometimes assembled, but the opposing schools were too competitive. Bryan Cheung changed that. Today, St. Mary’s Athletics is excelling in volleyball, soccer, and even baseball! Well, we’re working on baseball…

Students might often hate Bryan for “forcing” them to play a sport. They are very, very wrong. TRUST ME. I am telling you right now on this blog entry: Go out there. Play. Have some fun. “Just Do It.” –Nike

In all seriousness though, many just don’t realize how much playing a team sport may benefit their lives. You don’t ever want to look back and think, “Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.”

           

Through the years, while playing sports, we have not only had unbelievably fun times. We built memories which will be cherished forever… and ever… ever… yeah. Although many of our boys sports teams have not been to a single championship game, the times we had are simply unforgettable.

As a team, we learned how to play our hearts out, fight through adversity together, and to be patient with one another. Despite all the comments and observations Bryan made about our team chemistry, to me, we WERE the definition of “teamwork.”

Last but not least, the people I would really like to thank most are the coaches. Yes, I’m talking about you- Henry, Justin, Thanh, Aaron, Matt, Clarissa, Freddy, Calvin, Chris, Dion, Gavin, Mr. Mayfield, Brandon, David (aka Freddy lol), and James (sorry if I missed any of you guys). Man, you guys were pretty chill. Thanks for tolerating the times when we were so immature/uncooperative, and thank you for forgiving those who constantly abuse each other. I’m surprised that simple things like lack of behavior or fundamentals did not upset any coaches. You people were extremely patient.

Not only were they patient, they were all very dedicated, and made it so easy for us players to learn or pick up new skills. If it weren’t for them coaches, today, I would be shooting a free throw like Shawn Marion (thanks Brandon!), or swinging a bat like Matt Kemp (thanks Dion!). But no, that didn’t happen. Today, I shoot like Stephen Curry and have the pure swing of Nick Noonan… in my dreams.

Unfortunately, their devotion was still not enough for our teams to advance anywhere, due to some ups and downs during the season. I know, I won only one CYO game this entire school year, but I leave St. Mary’s Athletics with no regrets, as it was such an incredible experience through the past six years.

THANK YOU SO MUCH BRYAN CHEUNG! You have joined my list of role models and idols along with Michael Bublé and the Great, Godly, and Divine Number Seven of the Houston Rockets, whom you try to compare yourself to.

That’s basically it. I love you. God bless all. #shiftteam we out here.

 -Justin Guo, Class of 2013 

Why hockey players are tougher than you

We take a break from 8th grade week, no pun intended, to show you Boston Bruins forward Gregory Campbell continue to play on a broken leg. The footage is not gruesome, but he takes a slapshot which basically breaks his leg, and continues to play on until he can get off on a line change.

Cynthia's St. Mary's Athletics Reflection

7th/8th grade volleyball championship team

Looking back at the years I played basketball, this season was by far the best. Comparing our first game in the tournament to our championship game, we have come a long way. In our first game, we couldn’t take care, catch, shoot, or pass the ball very well and our feet were “glued to the floor”. In 3^rd and 4^th grade, we could barely score. But at the end of my career, we were hitting double digits every game and actually somewhat looked like basketball players on the court rather than a bunch of girls running around, being scared of the ball.

My volleyball season this year was amazing. In the beginning of this season, I was determined to do better than last year. At our championship game, there was one thing on my mind: win. We played hard and never gave up, and finally, it paid off.  At the end of my St. Mary’s volleyball career, we finally got first place. In our first season, we could barely get our serves over and all we could try to do is bump it over. Now, we could overhand serve, bump-set-spike, and tip.

Playing sports wasn’t always so glamorous as I had my share of struggles. The lowest point of my St. Mary’s career was probably the beginning of this past season. I took a huge step back. I wasn’t taking care of the ball, I missed many layups, my shot was off, and everything was kind of bad. Even though we won the games, I felt as if I didn’t do my best and wasn’t doing anything to help the team.

Another lowlight was when I fractured a bone in my arm in 5^th grade while driving to the basket in a game. I missed the last few games of the season and didn’t play basketball in 6^th grade. It was sad just sitting there, watching all my friends play basketball while I had to sit out, but I’m glad I was able to come back and play again.

I would like to thank all the wonderful coaches I had. They all helped me improve and taught me many lessons that I will always remember. The coaches supported me and always inspired me to do my best. I would also like to thank my teammates, for their continual support. Most of all, I would like to thank Bryan. Without him, there would be no athletic program and none of the wonderful opportunities we have today.

           

Bryan became our athletic director when I was in 3^rd grade. Before then, I didn’t know anything about sports except for what we did in P.E. No one talked about the athletics program. In fact, I didn’t even know we had an athletics program until Bryan came. When he introduced sports, everything changed. Everyone was talking about sports, trying to catch up on the latest newsletter, and now, watching the latest highlights and posts on the blog.

This was the best year in my St. Mary’s career. We managed to get into the championships in both basketball and volleyball, and I have a first place trophy to show for it. Not only did we do well, but we made strong bonds that will last into the future. The trophies don’t matter as much as all the good times, friends, and memories that will last forever.

St. Mary’s Athletics is the best thing I joined at St. Mary’s and I will never forget all the great times and laughs I had.

8th Grade Week Begins

Even though it is Wednesday, we will begin 8th grade week leading up to graduation this Friday as well as into early next week as some of our soon to be graduates reflect on their time at St. Mary's.

TODAY: Cynthia

Awards Night, My Thoughts

Thank you once again to everybody who came out to Awards Night, and especially those who were there the entire time. The show ended a little before 10:30 p.m. if you had to cut out, and it's too bad cause you missed a great slideshow as well as the 7th/8th grade volleyball champions.

I know it's very long, but that's the nature of the beast with so many teams. I don't have a solution on how to cut down on the night, but if you do, I am all ears.

Hope you enjoyed yourself and found the night a memorable one.

So some thoughts from Awards Night in no particular order:

-Who wins the awards and who votes on these awards?

All boys coaches are eligible to vote for awards for boys and all girls coaches are eligible to vote for awards for girls.

First, the coaches nominate as many names as possible and the top three, sometimes four, are placed onto the official ballot.

That is where the coaches rank the choices from 1-3, and whoever has the most points gets the award.

The only award that is chosen by me is the Lady Byng award. Otherwise, my vote counts just as much or as little as everybody else's.

-Winners

Let's break it down by category:

Boys Rookie of the Year - For me, it was a toss up between Matthew and Edzon. Edzon probably got more votes than Matthew based on the fact he scored more, which is usually a good gauge for basketball.

Boys Hustle Player of the Year - Garrick was the best known out of all the players, which helped, and on top of that you can always tell when Garrick is on the court. Even if he is not scoring, he seems to be around the ball, whether it's basketball or soccer. 

Boys Most Improved Player of the Year - My vote went to Jason Ng, but that's not to say Jason Lei, the winner, was not deserving. Like Leslie mentioned, Jason L. started playing just last year, which is impressive considering what a force he has become. Couldn't go wrong with either one.

Boys Player of the Year - Poor Raymond, who always seems to be a runner up in this category, maybe his 8th grade year will be the charm. It's always tough going against Jonathan who is a fan favorite it seems. However, Jason L. looked like he was a front runner at the beginning of the year, but Jonathan's presence on the court is unquestionably so valuable. With two more years to go, he has a chance to break Derek's record of MVPs. Granted, Jonathan was eligible to win more years than Derek.

Girls Hustle Player of the Year - Two years in a row for Kelly. I think Christine could've pulled an upset, as she plays like a mini-Kelly, if that's even possible. But Kelly, always not afraid to mix it up, and you can tell other teams do not like playing against her, which is a huge compliment.

Girls Most Improved Player of the Year - This was a tough one as Veronica pretty much single handedly put the 4th grade girls into the playoffs with her performance in the final regular season game. On top of that, she's just so much better than a year ago, and even then she was pretty good. From 0 to 5 wins, very impressive.

Christine's play really gave her team confidence when Kaela was out, and her huge game towards the end of the year was a much needed win that the 6th graders needed to have a more favorable playoff matchup. 

But it was hard to not vote for Fiona based on the fact she probably has the best all around game of the three nominees. She sees the court so much better, and finds her teammates well. She can shoot the 3 ball now as well as drive to the basket.

Girls Player of the Year - Cynthia prevailed possibly because it was her last year and the other two nominees, Jamie and Fiona both have one year left. If this voting took pace midway through the season, Cynthia probably doesn't win. But down the stretch Cynthia put up multiple double figure games, and was really the glue and leader of the often absent 8th grade team.

Volleyball Player of the Year - Also a toughie. Kaela undoubtedly the leader of the 6th graders, firing up the team with motivational chants as well as her play.

Edwena, with all her experience now playing outside of just St. Mary's, is probably the most polished out of the three and was deserving.

But in the end, Cynthia prevailed due to her leadership qualities and how the players on her team looked at her as an example. The way she encouraged her teammates and directed traffic during games and practices could not be overlooked. And she is a pretty skilled volleyball player herself.

Lady Byng - Justin gets this award just simply on his effort and willingness to try and do it all. He's played all three sports in his time at St. Mary's, and even when so many 8th graders didn't play baseball this year, he still played, knowing that it would probably be a year where the team wouldn't win many, or any games.

All the coaches who have ever coached him always mention Justin as a great player to coach, but unfortunately sometimes his teammates weren't as cooperative.

You could tell Justin always put it all out on the line. So good game, good effort.

AND...before we go, this was cut from Awards Night because I forgot about it, but this was pretty funny, albiet brief. Take a look. See ya pals.

Awards Night Recap

Thank you to everybody, and especially those who stayed until the end. Very much appreciated.

Here's a quick recap of the winners from the night:

Boys Basketball MVP - Jonathan
Girls Basketball MVP - Cynthia

Girls Volleyball MVP - Cynthia

Boys Basketball Most Improved Player - Jason Lei
Boys Basketball Hustle Player of the Year - Garrick

Girls Basketball Most Improved Player - Fiona Tsui
Girls Basketball Hustle Player of the Year - Kelly

Lady Byng - Justin

Boys Rookie of the Year - Edzon

Thanks again everybody.