Familiar
with the Lake Travis Parade of Champions from last year, my co-Tour worker and
I arrive at the Bee Cave Galleria expecting a positive experience with the
3-peat champs. The weather is on our side today, with the hot sun beating
down at around 65 degrees, a little different from what I’m used to for the
month of January in the Northeast, but I’ll take it! We quickly park the
car and connect with the parade coordinator and Lake Travis alum, Bob Dorsett.
Extremely organized and upbeat, Bob gives us the run down of start time, parade
order and logistics, ect. We then walk over to the court house where the
award ceremony will take place. Formulating a game plan for banner
placements and pictures, we walk back on over to the parade set up area.
The
Lake Travis football team seems to be unstoppable, winning their third state
championship in a row and going two years with an undefeated record of 16-0.
The team is being honored as one of the top football teams in the nation
according to MaxPreps and are proud recipients of the MaxPreps Tour of
Champions presented by the National Guard for the second year in a row.
The Cavaliers clinched their state title against Longview with a final score of
24-17 and finished the season ranked No. 20 in the country.
Since
we were gone the parking lot had filled with fancy cars, trailers, shiny red
fire engines, peppy cheerleaders, boy scouts, and of course the champions
themselves. Sergeant Rios from the Texas National Guard arrives with the
prestigious National Guard National Ranking trophy and we are able to gather
the entire team wearing their new Tour of Champions t-shirts and snap some
pictures before the parade begins. Leading the parade is one of the Texas National
Guard Hum-vees and following are the dances teams, the boisterous Lake Travis
band, then finally the football team all riding in fancy convertibles.
The parade and its observers all filtered around the courthouse for the award
ceremony and soon enough, it begins. The community support for the
Cavaliers is evident. The cheerleaders begin their fight cheers and the
entire crowd is gladly participating. Speakers are approaching the podium
all talking very highly of the team frequently mentioning their dedication,
hard work and commitment to the game. From just being around the team one
can sense the camaraderie and respect they have for one another as well.
Soon
enough MaxPreps representative and local fan, Jim Redman is announced.
Jim speaks of the team's three-peat and reals off season statistics while the
crowd hoots and hollers. He then appoints National Guardsman, Sergeant
Rios to do the honors. The Sergeant adds his own researched stats of the
champion team and mentions that the loyalty and dedication each player
has are similar characteristics to a Sergeant in the National Guard.
Sergeant Rios closes his speech by holding up the National Guard National
Ranking trophy and handing it off to the Cavalier's coach. Concluding the
ceremony, the coaches and players group together for final pictures while
holding up their state titles and of course the Nationall Guard National
Ranking trophy. I'd like to come back again to the great city of Austin
next year! How about a four-peat?!
