With the academic school year reaching its final stages, this is usually the time of year students and athletes receive recognition for their accomplishments throughout the year. If the school year was still in session, our athletes would be gathering together for our annual “Winter and Spring Sports Banquet”. This ceremony recognizes all sports played during the 2nd semester of the school year, including soccer, basketball, baseball, track and field, lacrosse, swim, tennis, golf, cheer, and bowling. Even with the conclusion of our school year physically at Central, our coaches and athletic department felt it was absolutely necessary to acknowledge all of the hard work our students athletes have been displaying all year. 

The ceremony was held virtually, with zoom sessions acknowledging the various sports. The event was held on Sunday , May 17, with 6 teams gathering at 2:00 PM and the remaining teams honored at 5:00 PM. When talking to Athletic Director Mr. Ybarra about the banquet he told me, “one of our main goals was to make sure that the event was going to have the same team environment it would have had if it were in person.” Throughout the ceremony, the teams presented awards such as ‘Bro. Joe Lanfer Award’, “Offensive MVP’, “Defensive MVP’, “Pillars Award’, ‘Most Improved Award’, along with others. Each accomplishment was posted to our ButtonAthletics twitter page, so that our entire community could recognize those who stood out in their respective sports. 

In a recorded message of Athletic Director Mr. Ybarra acknowledging the end of the athletic season for the 2019-2020 school year, he delivered a powerful message saying, “Although some of our seasons were cut short, all year long our coaches and athletes created a culture of success built on grit, perseverance, and teamwork.” 

When talking to different members of our athletic community about the banquet, it was definitely talked about in a praising manner.  Senior baseball player Andres Tijerina had to say, “Even though our baseball season was cut short, it was nice to still be recognized as a team for what we strived to accomplish leading up to the season.” Defensive MVP and 4 time state champion Chris Rios Cruz was also pleased with the event saying, “I know the soccer team would go crazy if we could actually gather together to celebrate, but it’s always a good thing when you and your squad gets recognized by your school for everything you have done for them”.

This event shows how even with our current predicament regarding the interaction amongst our society, our school is still extremely proud of everything our students do. It would be unfair to them if their hard work they have been putting in since the summer ended up getting unnoticed. In the same manner, our school will be holding a  virtual Academic Awards Ceremony in the upcoming future. Congratulations to all of our student athletes that participated in sports during the second semester, you personify the work ethic our school demands of us on a daily basis.