Bye bye class of 2013

We come to the end of another year and now it's my turn to say goodbye to the Class of 2013.

When I first became Athletic Director (not sports commissioner or sports coordinator, GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT) in 2007, the recently graduated 8th graders were in 3rd grade.

They were there from the beginning and got to travel through their entire St. Mary's careers with me as their A.D. - for better or worse.

Brendan said it very poignantly in the intro video at Awards Night, that he had many good times, but yet bad times, however they were mainly good.

And I couldn't agree more when it came to this collection of individuals.

First, the boys.

There were so many times when coaching them, watching them practice or play in games, that my head wanted to explode. Maybe because it's how many years I've spent with them or perhaps the potential that I saw in this talented group.

But in the end, the wins and losses are irrelevant, because after all, they are kids playing sports, although it seems super competitive most of the times.

What is relevant is how much talent they have. I remember standing on stage during the first Awards Night in 2008 proclaiming that this team would be in the playoffs for a while, and they were.

And since they were always a pretty good team in basketball, they never dropped down divisions and ended up getting bounced in the playoffs.

What I will remember about the boys is Brandon Khuu dropping 16 points in 3rd grade. When all the boys in the class played soccer, and we actually won a game, even though the referee some how missed the ball going through the net , in 6th grade when they had an incredible comeback in their first regular season basketball game, and some of the boys making to the soccer championship when they were in 7th grade.

Lastly, they were a baseball team in 6th grade, and unfortunately, most of them never continued to play. I felt that there was so much untapped potential there, and the key word again for them is potential.

If they stick with whatever they do, and really apply themselves, this is as talented of a group there is since I've been at St. Mary's.

Justin and Cynthia, recipients of the Scholar Athlete Award for 2013 (Courtesy: Sylvia Wu)
*DID YOU KNOW? Justin and Cynthia join their siblings, Melinda and David, who both previously won this award

As for the girls, it's hard to look beyond a few girls as most of the girls in the class never played sports for a prolonged period of time.

Isabella, Tiffany and Cynthia were the only girls to consistently play volleyball, and or basketball in their years here.

In both sports, they had some zero or one win seasons, but still continued to play and push knowing that some day the patience would pay off.

And that's what life is about sometimes, be patient, because things do not happen overnight. They persevered and came up with an ultimate memory, a championship in volleyball, the first one in the "Bryan Cheung Era".

Before I wrap up, I should give a special shout-out to the boys and girls from DeMarillac who played. They too were a very talented bunch, but there's something about the class of 2013 where there seemed to be one thing missing for everything to come full circle.

As a whole, it was tough for the DMA kids to consistently show up to practice and in the end it did hurt them out on the field.

Hope this is a lesson learned, that you can't expect to be good at something, unless you really dedicate and commit yourself to it.

Thank you to the class of 2013, as you were here for the entire ride. You are all a bunch of unique individuals and were always a challenge. Make the most of what you have and I can't wait til the day I hear about all your successes and accomplishments.

And most importantly, thanks for participating.