TBT-1990 Seniors

Senior year is an exciting time. It is a special feeling to be the top class in the school and in sports. Often it is a year players have looked forward to- "when we're seniors, we will ....."

In good years, the seniors take ownership. They have a sense of pride that this is going to be their legacy. They can be more focused and more determined. It is not unusual to find players make a real jump in performance from their junior to their senior years- senior pride!!



In not all years are pride and creating a legacy the mark of a senior class. In the not so good years, pride and legacy are replaced with entitlement and self-satisfaction. In those years instead of working harder going into their senior year, those teams coast.

Obviously not all freshmen players who say, "When we are seniors," stay out for the sport by the time they are seniors. We actually had one year when we had no seniors, and some other years where we have had only 2 or 3 seniors.

This picture of our 1990 seniors was taken at Rock Island before our game their. What stands out in this picture is that there are 7 seniors on the team. Too often, when players and parents decide if a player (in any sport) is not going to be a star or be a starter, they shouldn't stay out for the sport. What they don't understand is that being part of a team can be a positive learning experience whether you play a lot or don't play a lot.

The 1990 seniors were a special group- seven of them stayed with the program. The year before we had won Galesburg's first Regional title. It would have been very easy to have been a senior group who felt entitled and coasted. They were a group who chose to work hard, had pride in each other, and created their own legacy. No matter their role, they supported each other!!

And you can see from the picture- they had fun!!!

The 1990 Streaks went 23-5, losing to Manual in Sectional. After losing to Moline at Moline by 10 points early in the year, the Streaks came back to beat Moline 59-43 on Senior Night to capture the Western Big Six title!!

Seniors look forward to that last year, but they need to realize it goes by faster than they will realize. Hopefully seniors are leaders and anxious to create a legacy!!