A glorious moment

An open letter to the Burlington Free Press:
I would like to thank and congratulate the members of the Vergennes and Mt. Abraham girls basketball teams, as well as their coaches, cheering sections, and parents, for a wonderful playoff game this Wednesday in Barre. The energy, perserverence, dedication and good sportsmanship displayed by both teams was commendable. It was a pleasure to watch you play! I wish each of you continued good luck in your athletic, academic, and personal endeavors--all of you demonstrated that you are committed to reaching your goals!

This is the letter I sent to the newspaper, but it does not even begin to scratch the surface of the evening's experience. Everything about the game was blinding--the bright florescent lights that lit the gleaming court; the raw energy as the girls ran the ball up and down the court with each turnover (and there were a few); the shrill screaming from (overly?) supportive parents. We arrived a minute or so into the second quarter and it was immediately apparent that we had already missed quite a lot.

We sat in the parents and public section, with a good view of the players' benches and the student cheering sections behind them. On the wall behind the Mt. Abraham section, a series of hand-lettered posters--many highlighted with glitter--encouraged many players by name and/or number. Vergennes didn't have posters, but did have its cheerleaders there to encourage the girls and the crowd.

As the game progressed, too quickly, really, I began to discern personalities among the players: the tall, confident player who grabbed passes with ease, her dark eyes flashing; the short, scrappy guard whose ponytail bounced with her determined dribble; the lanky forward who jumped away from a stray ball and silently dared the ref to call a foul. Raw emotion exuded from every pore in the place and practically condensed and dripped from the ceiling. Parents screamed and it was easy to see how wars begin and are continued--their ferocious demand for justice on their daughters' behalf was almost as intense as their daughters' determination to grab the rebound, run the ball, make the shot.

When Mt. Abraham won, the jumped around and hugged each other like teams of any age, size, gender do when they win. They smiled for the newspaper cameraman and lined up to low-five their opponents (the number one seeded team). When they were released from their huddle and ran across the court to their waiting, adoring parents, the girls hugged their dads first. Who knows why? It was a special moment to witness, fierce hugs of deserved congratulations and naked pride exuding the love that teenagers eschew from their parents in all moments except for these championship hugs. The dads didn't argue, hugging their little girls--almost in college, some of them--tight. Then on to mom, and the moms soaked it up too, this public adoration from their teenage daughters. Only a moment, perhaps; a glorious moment. I'm glad I was there.