Eight Teams One Dream

Heritage High School’s volleyball team has definitely made an impression this year. They made sacrifices to give our school a better name for itself, along with giving us yet another reason to be proud of going to our school. The team this year made the Elite Eight and, even better, the Final Four.

A lot of things go into being a student-athlete: time, effort, painful workouts, and even just having the courage to play with everything you’ve got during the game. There’s a lot of reasons that people don’t play, but when the good outweighs the bad, the ones that really love it stick around. Practices are long, and you may have to cut out some of your personal plans, but if you really love it then it is all worth it in the end when you walk off the court feeling accomplished. “Players who want to be there, who want to improve, who do not sell themselves short, and who will not make excuses” are the players Coach Cooper says have been the key to success this year and every year going forward. Having student-athletes who are willing to do what it takes to be the best player they can be are the ones that you need if you want to win games and win respect from not just your school, but also all the other schools that we play.

Coach Cooper has been the head coach for six years here at Heritage High. During those times, they have made it to the elite eight three times. She chooses to run the program in a way that will show every teammate’s character and even develop it into being the best person they can be. It is always a great feeling knowing that those that you’re around, will go out being a better person.

This season the Lady Generals went for a total record of 36-8. Some of these wins include Ringold, LFO, and Central. We fought hard through several matches and for the most part came out on top with only a few exceptions for close losses. This was one of our most successful seasons as a team and we hope to continue this for another winning season next year.

Though right now we are doing pretty well overall this season, you also need to focus on how to keep up the right tempo so that future seasons will be just as good or better. To play volleyball anywhere you have to have a lot of commitment to not just your coach, but to your team. Coach Cooper will continue to push each and every member of the team while also making sure that they achieve her high expectations.

Overall, it is amazing that our Heritage Lady Generals have made it as far as they have this season. Instead of focusing just on statistics of the games, I think that we need to focus on what it takes to succeed no matter what that may be in. Focusing on doing what you love and working hard to get to your goals is harder than a lot of people expect it to be. Not everything is easy. More people would do it if it were, it takes time, sacrifice, and above all a passion to play. Congratulations to our Lady Generals and I hope to see every single one of you go on even farther than you have already.