Something pretty remarkable took place in athletics at Brownsville Veterans Memorial during the 2016-17 school year.
Beginning with the fall semester in football, volleyball and tennis, the school’s teams started winning District 32-5A championships. From there, the winning continued, and by the time the school year ended just a few days ago, Brownsville Veterans had captured district titles in 13 of 19 team sports in 32-5A.
The school began competing in Class 5A last August after spending the previous two school years in Class 6A.
Besides its 13 district championships, Brownsville Veterans also recorded 32-5A runner-up finishes in three other sports. Every one of the school’s team sports advanced to the state playoffs for the second consecutive school year.
It was an accomplishment of consistency and dominance on a scale that hasn’t been witnessed before in Brownsville ISD and maybe not achieved by any high school in the Rio Grande Valley.
For its strong athletic showing during the just completed school year, Brownsville Veterans received the Sub-Class 6A Program of the Year award at Saturday’s All-Valley Sports Banquet in Mission.
“The fact that it was becoming such a magical school year athletically started to really sink in back in soccer season (in early 2017),” said David Cantu, Brownsville Veterans’ athletic coordinator and head football coach. “Last (school) year we made the playoffs in every sport, and as a coaching staff, we felt we could do even better this time. We literally sat here in a staff meeting and discussed that.
“It sets the bar high (for the future), but that’s OK,” Cantu added. “We feel like that’s the way it should be. It starts even before the students get here. It really starts at Stillman Middle School, which is our only feeder school. The athletic programs and coaches there do a great job and the students come here with that type of winning mentality and already used to achieving a certain level of success.”
More than anything, Cantu is grateful to be a part of the school’s continuing athletic success story. He’ll begin his sixth season as football coach in August.
“I just feel very fortunate to be surrounded by the success we’re having here,” he said. “We have so many coaches who are experienced, and more than that, they all respect each other. They cooperate and share a lot of our athletes (between the different sports). I think that’s an important factor in our success.”
There was a spirit of unity on campus in 2016-17 as the Brownsville Veterans athletes and coaches pulled for each other to do well in their various sports throughout the entire school year.
“It’s a cool thing (that we did so well) and it makes me proud to be a part of our school and proud that I know athletes from the other sports, and I’m happy for them,” said Cassie Valdez, a senior-to-be who was a standout in two sports — a setter in volleyball and a pitcher/infielder in softball.
Both of Valdez’s sports earned district championships and enjoyed solid showings in the playoffs. Volleyball went 30-14 and advanced two rounds in the postseason, while softball finished 26-8 and advanced three rounds.
“All the athletes and coaches work really hard, and to win district titles and go deep in the playoffs was really great,” said Valdez, a two-time All-Metro MVP in softball who won the same award in 32-5A this season.
Andres Bodden, another senior-to-be, played football and participated in track as a junior, winning 32-5A individual titles throwing the discus and shot put. He was a defensive end on the Chargers’ football team that went 8-3 overall last fall and shared the 32-5A championship with Mercedes as each team finished 6-1 in conference play.
“It means a great deal (to have this kind of overall success) because it says a lot about the student-athletes here and how committed they are,” said Bodden, who had his 2016 football season cut short due to a knee injury but came back to enjoy a standout track season that included one of the top discus throws in the Valley in 2017. “The athletes are prepared not only for their games, but also to do well in the class room.
“Having all this success across the board (athletically) for boys and girls makes us want to prepare the best we can this summer and do it all over again next school year,” he added. “It all starts (with volunteer workouts) in the summer.”
Besides football, volleyball, fall team tennis and softball, Brownsville Veterans also captured district titles in boys and girls basketball (both teams with 30 or more wins), boys and girls golf, boys and girls swimming, boys soccer, girls track and boys spring tennis. The district runner-up finishes came in baseball (14-9), girls soccer (18-5-1) and boys track.
Brownsville Veterans’ most successful sport in 2016-17 was girls golf, which won every one of its nine tournaments, including Region IV-5A competition, en route to qualifying for the UIL Class 5A state tournament May 15-16 in Bastrop.
Members of the Lady Chargers golf team were Julio Lucio, Cristina Pullen, Vanessa Campos, Fahtima Avila and Cecilia Garza. They placed fifth at state while becoming the first golf team from a public high school in the city to compete at such a high level.
The Chargers barely missed going to state in boys soccer. After capturing the 32-5A crown with a 12-2 record, they won four games in the playoffs to reach the Region IV-5A final, where they were edged 1-0 by Lopez for a berth at state. Boys soccer finished with a 23-3-2 overall record and ranked No. 4 in the Valley.
“It was a great atmosphere around campus (with all the winning this school year),” said boys soccer coach Alberto Vasquez, who captured his second district title this season in seven years of guiding the Chargers. “First it was football, team tennis and volleyball, and then all the other sports started coming around to win district, too. The senior class we had this year was such a great group of student-athletes and they showed great leadership, although it wasn’t just the seniors winning all those district titles.
“After the first team won district, everyone else wanted to win it as well,” Vasquez added. “The belief the athletes had in each other and the belief they had in the athletes from other sports, it really was just something special. They cared about each other. Yes, they picked on each other about which sport was the best, but the love and support they had for each other was something amazing to see every day.”
Added volleyball coach Lisa Mares, who has won three district titles in her eight years as coach, “No matter what (sports) season you’re in, there’s always pressure to be first. You want to do well and motivate others (in their sports) to follow you (and do well too). When one team wins district, another team continues because the sports all kind of feed off each other.
“It’s awesome to be a spectator and see the other sports win their games,” she added. “The atmosphere of the school is different when everyone is doing well. The coaches all try to collaborate with each other in things like conditioning, and I think that’s what makes us so successful. It’s something good. We’re a good environment and a close family.”
The coaches and athletes can’t help but feel it’s something unique.
“This is my 21st year in coaching and I’ve never seen anything like this (overall) success,” Cantu said. “We’re very fortunate to have the student-athletes we have, the coaches we have and the parental support we have. It’s something special and we don’t take it for granted.”
Joshua Alaniz, a 2017 graduate who played receiver in football and center fielder in baseball, couldn’t agree more.
“Actually, playing sports here has been the best thing to happen to me in my life so far,” said Alaniz, whose father, Jesus Alaniz, is an assistant coach on the Brownsville Veterans staff. “If you look at all of our teams, it’s never about one single person (carrying the squad). It’s always been a group effort, and that’s what is so awesome. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better senior year and going out like this with a bang.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess