SPORTS
STORM CENTER: Braemar College enjoys stay in America
Bowie Elementary School students learned about Christmas in Australia firsthand on Friday morning.
Thanks to a traveling bunch of basketball players and school officials from Braemar College, a school located north of Melbourne, Victoria.
The main building in the college, Braemar House, dates back to the late 19th century. This is a co-curricular private school.
Braemar is one of eight schools playing the Bowie Invitational boys’ basketball tournament. They have two teams, one playing in the varsity division and the other in the freshmen group.
“Everyone is so welcoming in Texas,” said Paul Warner, head of the Harry House at Braemar College.
Warner also serves as a physical education teacher and grade-level leader at the school. He is one of the chaperones on the trip.
Braemar – save for 19 hours worth of jet lag – arrived in the United States on Tuesday to begin a whirlwind tour of America that won’t end until Dec. 22.
The school is slated to face American high schools from all around the country – including the New York City area and North Carolina. The boys are staying with host families, and Koni Jones has served as Bowie’s coordinator of housing.
“We love Bowie High,” Warner said. “The facilities are crazy good. The people have been lovely and friendly and the students here have been so hospitable to us.”
Warner’s child, Manon, will be entering Braemar College next year.
In the foyer leading to the high school gymnasium, there’s a painted sign saying, “Welcome Australians.”
There have been other gestures of international favor and goodness all around Bowie High School.
So, what did the elementary school students learn about Christmas in Australia?
They learned reindeer don’t transport presents; rather that duty is fulfilled by kangaroos with pouches full of gifts. Yes, Santa Claus has a different crew in Australia.
Food is both similar and different. Turkey is served. But, so are steak and eggs and pavlova, a dessert featuring kiwi and strawberries on top.
Already, the tour has been a busy one for the group.
The students participated in a training session with Tony Swindle at his center in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on Wednesday.
On Wednesday evening, the team attended a college basketball game between Texas Christian and NCAA Division I No. 22 Southern Methodist. The Mustangs topped the Horned Frogs by three points 70-67. Thursday morning before driving up to Bowie, the team toured AT&T Stadium, which was an immense thrill for Warner. Read more in the Dec. 5 edition of The Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Braemar College’s players pose for a photo for their families back in Australia. The team is on an extended tour of the United States through Dec. 22. (News photo by Eric Viccaro)
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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