Pride in the Tiger Sharks

Dear Editor:

In the fall of 2004, a group of 11- and 12-year-old boys from the Gene Raffield Football League were playing in the biggest game of their young lives, the Super Bowl.  The winner would be acknowledged as the best football team of their age in the Big Bend Football League.  Playing against an excellent Chattahoochee team, they were down two touchdowns deep into the third quarter.  Giving up was not an option.  They fought back and won the game by one point.  Some of the names on that team were Thomas Sims, Raheem Clemons, Calvin Pryor, Willie Quinn, Mookie Littles and Roman Quinn.

For those of us that follow Shark sports and, in particular, Tiger Shark basketball, those names are very familiar.  Two weeks ago these same young men, along with six others, were playing in another big game, this time in a beautiful auditorium in Lakeland.  They were one of the Florida High School Athletic Association “Final Four” in Class 2A.  Playing against one of the best teams money can buy, our team was down nine points with just under two minutes left in the game.  And once again, giving up was not an option.  With skill and determination they fought back and came within one basket of pulling it out.

Although they didn’t get the win, all the young men on this team are winners.  They won the heart of the huge crowd of Port St. Joe fans that made the long trip to Lakeland.  They won the respect of everyone in that stadium including the other team’s players and coaches.  And they won for themselves the knowledge that they gave it everything they had.

My wife Diana and I are so proud of these young men and what they have become.  We truly believe that most, if not all of them, will do well in life because they know that hard work and never ever giving up will take you far.  They come from a town filled with folks who work hard, have love and respect for each other and teach their young ones high values.  How fortunate we are to live here.

Mal Parrish

Port St. Joe