Queen’s classic rock hit is likely going to ring in the halls of four Texas Panhandle high schools this week … maybe longer.
Four terms of girls won state titles for their respective high schools.
The champs hail from Canyon, Panhandle, Canadian and Nazareth high schools. Why is this a big deal?
It is for a couple of key reasons.
One is that the champions all play on high school girls basketball teams. Title IX brought extra visibility and status to girls athletics across the nation. Back in the Dark Ages, when I attended high school, there was no such thing as girls’ team athletics. We didn’t have girls volleyball, basketball, wrestling or softball competition.
Girls competed in track and field and if memory serves, that was about it.
It’s a different — and better — era these days for girls athletics.
The second reason is that these four championship teams hail from the Texas Panhandle, which arguably might be the forgotten region of our vast state.
We see our power diminished politically as population grows more rapidly in other parts of Texas. The Legislature is forced to redraw legislative and congressional districts every decade and the trend is the same: the districts grow in geographical size because the state’s population is becoming increasingly clustered in places like Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston and the Valley.
But our athletic “power” and prowess remain intact.
I should take particular note that Canyon High won yet another state title. Coach Joe Lombard’s won-lost percentage is astronomical in the extreme. I cannot remember precisely what it is, but the man has coached his teams to many times more victories than losses.
The CHS trophy case must be getting terribly crammed with state championship trophies.
Four state champs in a single weekend for this outpost region called the Panhandle of Texas? Not bad at all.
Congratulations, young ladies.
Cue the music. “We-e-e-e are the champions … “
