By Terrence Thomas
Eight years ago, Madison High School soccer standout Jillian Martinez was an onlooker at a celebration commemorating an occasion she hoped she and her teammates would experience firsthand this weekend at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown.
Martinez was a fourth-grader in 2012 when her father Larry and his teammates on the 1987 Alamo Heights soccer team gathered for the 25th anniversary of their landmark UIL state championship season. The Mules, coached by Bruce Fink, were the first area squad to win a state title — and did so during an era when the sport was all-inclusive and not separated into classifications based on student enrollment.
“He always talks about what it took to get there, and how their team came together,” Jillian, a senior, said of her father, who earned All-City honors in 1987. “For me, that was my goal — to be like my dad, and win state, and bring it back to Madison.”
It was an unfulfilled aspiration. But not become of any fault of Martinez or her teammates.
The UIL announced on Friday that the remainder of the spring sports calendar has been canceled and state champions would not be crowned in boys basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, track and field, softball and baseball because of a coronavirus pandemic. TAPPS, which oversees most of the state’s private schools, made the same decision.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced earlier Friday that all Texas schools would remain closed to in-person education for the rest of the school year, precipitating the move.
“Our staff had been working hard on plans to resume activities this spring, but without schools in session, interscholastic activities cannot continue,” UIL executive director Charles Breithaupt said in a press release. “Our highest priority during this challenging time is ensuring the health and safety of our students and communities and making progress in the containment of COVID-19 in Texas.”
The University Interscholastic League, which oversees extracurricular activities in public schools, had hoped for about a month that games would resume after initially suspending play for two weeks in mid-March. The suspension was later extended until May 4.
The halting of seasons was even more painful for area teams with aspirations of postseason success.
In boys soccer, LEE (17-0-1), Clemens (18-1-1) and Southwest (21-0-0) led the charge. LEE was a state finalist a year ago after losing to Flower Mound on penalty kicks, but regrouped from the heartbreak and was poised to claim the top prize. The Volunteers, who had played in the previous two Region IV-6A finals, are No. 2 in Top Drawer Fab 50 national rankings. Clemens is No. 37.
Southwest, which advanced to the Region IV-5A tournament for the first time a year ago, was off to the best start in area history, tied with the 1990 MacArthur and 2015 Clark teams.
On the girls ledger, Madison (20-1) this season captured its first district championship since 2000 and earned its first playoff berth since 2004, the year when its concluded a surreal 20-year run that included two state titles (1991 and 1993), two state finals (’89 and ’90), two state semifinals (’88 and ’95) and five trips to the regional finals (’84, ’85, ’87, ’96 and ’98).
The Mavericks were expected to contend for regional supremacy along with Clark, LEE, Johnson, Brandeis, New Braunfels Canyon and New Braunfels.
Alamo Heights was seeking a fourth straight appearance in the Region IV-5A final and a second trip to state; Boerne Champion was aiming for a third trip to regionals and a second trip to state in four years; and Harlan was looking for a big postseason breakthrough after compiling a 39-4-3 record and two district titles in its first two varsity campaigns.
“It was truly shocking that our season was put on hold,” said Martinez, a key member of national power UCLA’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class, who gave up playing for the prestigious U.S. Development Academy to tally 39 goals and nine assists for Madison and figured in nearly half her team’s 98 goals. “We were doing so great. We were happy to accomplish winning district, making playoffs for the first time in a very long time. But, of course, you want to finish what we started.”
Boerne was seeking a similar storyline. The Greyhounds lost in the Class 4A final in 2017, in the Region IV-4A final in 2018 and in the third round to the eventual regional champion a year ago. Led by high-scoring senior forwards Lexi Truitt and Brianna Barrera, who both have 100 career goals and played on the state finalist squad three years ago, Boerne appeared on course for run at a state crown.
The threat of COVID-19, though, ended it before it started.
“We had this real good flow going,” said Boerne coach Savannah Bryant, who was in her first season. “We definitely felt we could make a deep run in the playoffs, and I know that even the possibility of going to state was on everybody’s minds. For all this hard work they put in to go away, it’s frustrating.”
Soccer, undoubtedly, wasn’t the only sport to feel that way.
Softball had barely started district play when the plug was pulled on the season, while only a few districts had begun league play in baseball. Tennis, golf and track and field never reached their district competitions, while boys basketball contested four of 12 state semifinal contests at the Alamodome in mid-March when the event was suspended.
All that remains is seniors who didn’t get to conclude their playing careers, state champions who didn’t get to defend their titles, and plenty of wondering over what might have been.
“The unfinished business we will not have the chance to complete hurts to think about,” Southwest softball coach Sandy Hernandez posted on Twitter. “The numbers are just a small part of what we will miss. I enjoyed watching every single one grow into the women they are today. So proud of them.”