MARCH 2016 Vol. 6 Issue 8
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WORCESTER
AND MATISON
SOFTBALL, PERSEVERANCE ,
唀倀䌀伀䴀䤀一䜀 䔀嘀䔀一吀匀 䄀吀 䘀䤀刀䔀䰀䄀䬀䔀 䄀刀䔀一䄀
㐀 㔀ⴀ㈀㜀㌀ⴀ㘀㌀㜀
䘀䤀刀䔀䰀䄀䬀䔀䄀刀䔀一䄀⸀䌀伀䴀
⼀䘀䤀刀䔀䰀䄀䬀䔀⸀䄀刀䔀一䄀 䀀䘀䤀刀䔀䰀䄀䬀䔀䄀刀䔀一䄀
Loving God. Loving People. Serving Both.
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CONTENTS
MARCH 2016
10
Adam Flanagan Mackenzie Herman
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DEPARTMENTS
6 South Central Roller Girls 8 Skip Griese and the Joys of Tennis 10 Perseverance, Softball, and Matison Worcester
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RECIPE
Bruschetta Chef Williams Oak Hills Country Club
Instructions
Ingredients 2 Tomatoes diced 1 Small Onion diced ¼ Cup banana peppers diced ¼ cup Parmesan cheese 2 cup Balsamic vinegar ½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon garlic fine chopped 1 tablespoon basil 1 teaspoon oregano ½ stick butter 1 loaf French baguette
Combine balsamic vinegar & sugar in sauce pan; reduce to make syrup. Combine tomatoes, onion, peppers, parmesan, garlic, basil, and oregano, 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, set aside. Melt butter. Cut baguette into ¼ in thick slices and brush with melted butter. Toast till golden brown. Top toasted baguettes
with tomato onion pepper blend and then top with parmesan. Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake till cheese is melted and browned (3-5 minutes) top lightly with balsamic syrup. Enjoy.
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IN SHAPE
Nutriotion on the Road: The Road Trip Nutrition Map Let’s face it, feeling good about what you eat on vacation or a road trip seems almost impossible. Even traveling athletes face the horrors of having to refuel with less than optimal provisions. The truth is, depending on where your journey leads you, you may not be able to have a perfect diet, but you can get close with a little planning. The following road trip nutrition map has evolved from ideas that have worked for my clients, and my own family: Literally map it out. Do your homework and know which restaurants and fast food joints are located along your path. Plan to eat at the healthier options. This is also especially important if you are traveling with someone who has a special diet,
as is the case with food allergies or intolerances. Make the best choices from what you are presented. Go for fruits and veggies as side dishes and be sure you are getting a good serving of protein at your meals. Avoid fried foods and sugarcontaining beverages and desserts. Pack snacks to avoid impulse gas station finds (and save money). Most snack food is carb based, so focus on getting protein, fruits and veggies. Good snacks that travel well are: single serving peanut butter (or almond butter), nuts, ovenroasted chickpeas, apples, bananas, oranges, single serving tuna pouches (please get permission from your fellow road-trippers for this stinky snack), carrot sticks, raw broccoli, and peanut
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butter sandwiches. Start your trip with re-usable water bottles that can be replenished at water sources along the way. Pay attention to portion control. You are going to be in a car for a long time with not much to do and surrounded by snacks. Pace yourself. Try to only eat if you are actually hungry. Have car games in mind to initiate if you get bored. If you take nutrition supplements, don’t leave them behind on your trip. Due to a less than optimal diet and the stresses of travel, you need them more than ever. Taking your supplements can help your body remain strong and fight illness, and allow you to enjoy the scenery.
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South Central Roller Girls by: Sunnie Dawn Smith
While all sports have their own unique challenges, one of the most daunting, and the most accepting, is the roller derby. Imagine speeding around a track, on roller skates, pushing and shoving other competitors, trying to win a race while constantly getting your body slammed. For these daring women, this is the norm. We are lucky to have our own roller derby league right here in Ada: the South Central Roller Girls. If you are a woman over the age of 18, you are welcome to join. If you are not, you can still join in the fun, supporting this local team. Our local roller derby team currently has ten women. Each woman picks a nickname for themselves which empowers them, representing both their fierceness and their personality. A roller derby bout consists of two 30-minute periods. With halftime and time-outs, a bout can take anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. On the track at any given time, both teams have five players each—four blockers and one jammer, who is denoted by a star on her helmet. As they skate around the track, the goal is for the jammer to make their way past the pack of blockers. They don’t get points the first time they get through, but after that first time, they get a point for every opposing player they pass. Within those 30-minute periods, there are individual plays called jams which can last up to two minutes. When the whistle blows, the first jammer out is called the lead jammer. The lead jammer can call the jam off early if they want, usually in order to stop the other team from getting points. Each team has 30 seconds in between jams to switch out players. Some teams have players who will only jam, but the South Central Roller Girls have players who function interchangeably as jammers and blockers. The blockers have to be on both offense and 6 • www.adahub.com
defense, helping their jammer get through while trying to block the other team’s jammer. While they are trying to stop the other team, there are still rules. They can’t throw elbows or punch. They can do shoulder hits or hip hits, though. Every hit has to be in the area between the thigh and the neck. Anything below is called low block and anything above is a high block. Either of these will put you in the penalty box for 30 seconds. If you use an elbow or hit someone with your forearm, it is also a penalty. Almost every skater will get at least one penalty per game, which isn’t surprising considering the speed that these women have and the coordination it takes to try to knock your opponent out of the way in a penaltyfree manner. Team captain, Katie Hoff, a.k.a. Hoff the Chain, didn’t know anything about roller derby until she saw the 2009 movie Whip It. After watching it at the theater, she started checking out some more information about the roller derby. She saw that a bout was coming up in Stillwater, so she went to see it in person. It looked like a lot of fun, so she started trying to find her own team to join. At first she drove to Oklahoma City to work with a team there. Eventually, she found the South Central Roller Girls. At the time they were based out of Ardmore, but then they moved to the Arbuckle Ballroom in Davis. After that venue shut down, they moved the practices to Ada in September of 2014. One of the things that Katie likes most about the sport is, “There is a place for everybody in roller derby. Anybody can play. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are. And everybody on our team is from different backgrounds.” Women will say that they think they are too big or too small to play roller derby, but that really isn’t the case.
Anyone can do it. Katie has even played against a woman who was almost 60 years old and still going strong. They have practices at the Ada Armory out past the airport on Broadway every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings from 6:00-8:00. Tuesday nights are “fresh meat” practices for the new recruits to learn the basics. Once they have mastered the basics, the recruits take a skills test to make sure they can handle it. After they pass the test and get some scrimmage time, they pick their name, get their jersey, and are officially on the team. Right now the team consists of team captain, Hoff the Chain (Katie Hoff), and the nine other members: Marshall Law (Brandy Marshall), Valentine Massacre (Rebecca Weir), Hise Hise Baby (Brooke Hise), Justeen Beat-Her (Keshia McMahon), Jack’d Up (Jackie Horton), Mis D Meaner (Misty Jackson), LuxStrong (Chrystal Ranells), Sweet Demise (Summer Chiles), and Ivory Loaded (Heather Reames). Their fresh meat recruits, who will take the test in March, are Nia Ruston, Meghan Bunyard, Nicky Knight, Beka Kallberg, and Jodi Bailey. If you have ever been interested in the roller derby, and are a woman over the age of 18, you should stop by on a Tuesday night to try it out. Even if you can’t skate, it doesn’t matter. They can teach you. They will work with you on your skating, but also on a fierce hip check. If you don’t feel like joining the roller derby yourself, you can also watch one of their bouts in Ada at Star Skate on Sunday, April 17th, at 6:30 PM. They will be playing the Bomb City Roller Girls out of McAlester and it should be a great bout. For more information, email southcentralrollergirls@yahoo. com, like them on Facebook or visit their website at southcentralrollergirls.com.
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Happening in the month of March!
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SKIP GRIESE and
the
Joy
One cannot underestimate the importance of being physically active. It is good for the mind, body, and the soul. It helps relieve stress and tension, but also keeps the body in good physical condition. While it can be difficult to get started and decide what the best fit is for an individual, here in Ada we are uniquely equipped for one particular activity that is both good for the heart and can be a lifelong activity: tennis. Not only do we have the appropriate facilities, but we also have a long history of tennis in this town that we should be proud of. This is embodied in the work and life of Ada High School tennis coach, Skip Griese. Coach Griese started playing tennis in 1964 when he was a small boy. He and his mother lived with his grandparents when his father was away in Vietnam. His mother loved playing tennis and they lived near tennis courts. His grandparents rule was to eat dinner at 5:00. His mother had Coach Griese eat dinner quickly so he could hold his mother’s spot for her five o’clock match. This family commitment to tennis influenced him greatly, and hasn’t stopped since. Griese played tennis at ECU for four years and then coached at ECU from 1980-1984. While he loved his time at ECU, in 1984, he had a chance to start coaching at Ada High School. His friend, Bill Nelson, coached at Ada High and decided to move to the position of principal. He told him the job was going to be open and Griese jumped at the chance. While Coach Griese enjoyed his time at ECU, he wanted to be able to work with younger players. Not only could he make sure they received the proper technical background in tennis, but he could see faster improvement, impacting both their sport and their personal development at a crucial point in their lives. Griese is incredibly thankful to Bill Nelson for helping him find this opportunity that brings him so much joy. While he has loved his time at Ada High, the last ten years have been especially enjoyable because of his assistant coach, Terry Swopes. For many years he would have a coach for the junior high, but not an assistant coach in the high school. Terry fills both roles, though, and Griese is incredibly grateful for him and his friendship, professionalism, and reliability. When Griese moved to Ada for college in 1972, the tennis community was thriving. 8 • www.adahub.com
of
Ten n i s
It has continued to thrive, in part because of his leadership. Ada High has 18 state team championships and 92 individual championships. This is a remarkable record. Part of the reason, though, is the culture of tennis in Ada and the availability of resources. There are a total of 18 free tennis courts in Ada. Griese has been to a lot of tennis courts in his life, and these are the only ones he has found that have free lights. For many of them, you have to put a quarter in a machine in order to run the lights. In addition to these resources, there are also many opportunities to learn and excel in the sport. In the summer, Griese works with Carolyn Nimmo, teaching tennis to children. The Ada Cougar Tennis Camp has been active since 1984, when Griese took over the coaching position. The City of Ada provides free tennis lessons in the summer to anyone in the ages of 5-18 years. The Chickasaw Nation has also become involved in tennis, offering a Chickasaw Nation Tennis Camp with Ms. Nimmo and Coach Griese’ leading the sessions. In fact, if any child wants to learn tennis in the summer, there are plenty of available opportunities. It really is a sport that goes across all lines. It is not dependent on economic status because of the freely available lessons and also the inexpensive nature of the sport. While you might have to buy a racket, they are reasonably priced and last a long time. Tennis balls can also be used over and over again. Not to mention, our courts are free. There are many things that Griese enjoys about his job. He likes the relationships that he makes with players, their parents, and other coaches. He appreciates the ups and downs of the game and also teaching these budding athletes how to weather the valleys and peaks, not only in their game but in their personal lives as well. Many of the lessons he teaches on the court can be translated into real life as well. This could not be possible without the strong support he receives from players, their parents, and administration. As he says, “The players’ dedication and commitment have been more than I could have asked for.” While Griese’s former students and their parents applaud his skill in coaching, he is now receiving an honor that goes far beyond our community. On February 13th, Coach Griese is being inducted into the Oklahoma
Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Even though this association was formed in 1979, this will be the inaugural year of their Hall of Fame and it is a tremendous honor for our town that Griese was chosen as one of the first ten inductees. Of the ten honorees, three have passed away and will be inducted posthumously—Wally Smith, Dewey Allen, and Kate Cushing. Five have retired from coaching—Francis Baxter, Darrell Herndon, Bob Holland, Steve Larimer, and Father Perez. Only two are still active coaches— Dick Villafor and our very own Skip Griese. Coach Griese has such respect for the other inductees and has known, or coached against, eight of the other nine honorees. “It is a tremendous honor to be mentioned in the same breath as these other nine people,” he says. Coach Griese realizes, though, that he did not, and could not, do this on his own. From his parents who started him on this path to Bill Nelson, whose friendship helped him realize his dream, to his family, Griese has had the encouragement he needed to become the coach he is today. His family has supported him in crucial ways. He has so many people to thank. His wife, Debbie, has always been there for him. So has his mother-in-law, Wanda Alexander. His children, Amber and Joe Neil, and their spouses, Chris and Karry, have given him further support and encouragement. His grandchildren, Hayley, Ashley, Connor, and Bryce, have brought even more joy into his life, not only through their smiles, but also as he shares his love of tennis with them. He taught his own children to play tennis and continued doing so with his grandchildren. Even Connor, at four years of age, has started playing tennis, and he is looking forward to teaching the youngest, Bryce, once he is old enough. Above and beyond all of these instrumental people in his life, though, Griese says, “I thank God for all the blessings he has given me.”
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PERSEVERANCE ,
SOFTBALL, AND MATISON
WORCESTER by: Sunnie Dawn Smith
Matison Worcester is anything but typical. When you first meet her, a nice, smiling, blonde, 17 year old girl, she might seem like an “ordinary teenage girl.” But nothing could be further from the truth. She has had grit and determination since she was eight years old. She has a single minded focus, while still managing to keep a good amount of perspective. Matison isn’t just a good softball player, she is a great softball player, picked for first team pitcher in 2015 by Vype Magazine. She has a long list of achievements and accolades, but still manages to talk about them in a matter-of-fact kind of way. For someone who is already fairly accomplished, Matison is also remarkably down-to-earth.Matison started playing t-ball when she was in preschool. This led to softball, which is her true love. At first she didn’t really like it that much, but she would watch her older sister, Ashli, play and she decided that she wanted to do that as well. The pitchers, in particular, caught her young eye. She would watch them and decided that she wanted to pitch like them. She started pitching at eight and a half. She and her dad were always in the backyard throwing 10 • www.adahub.com
the ball. That is how she spent all of her free time. Since she was really serious about it, her parents, Matt and Shelli, started taking her to a pitching coach in Lone Grove to help improve her game. She studied with John Pemberton at Strike Zone once a week for the next five years, mainly working on her spin. Matison already had a natural spin on her ball, but with more practice, she became an even better pitcher. She didn’t focus that much on speed in the beginning. She was always told that speed would come with spin. And it did. While she did, and does, play ball for Latta, she also plays softball with a travel team in the summer. The first travel team she played with was the Wildcats. It was just Matison and a bunch of her friends from school. Then she moved to 98 Smash, which her dad coached, and they would play in places like Dell City, Ardmore, and Midwest City. This was all before she had turned ten years old. Then she joined a team called Synergy. Her coach, Heather Brady, had played Division I softball at Nebraska. It was a tournament team and had girls on it from all over Okla-
homa. She moved to a team called the Switchbacks with a lot of her friends from school. This is where things really started to take off. They won the state tournament. She pitched almost every game of the tournament and won MVP. Later in the summer they went to Nationals in Lawrence, Kansas, where she, once again, pitched every game. They won every game. She won MVP, the award for the fastest pitch of the tournament, and the team won the National title. Matison was eleven. After the national win, some of the girls left the team, and the name was changed to Oklahoma Impact. They were coached by Brian Davis, who had helped coach the Switchbacks with Shane Campbell. This time they went straight to Nationals, qualifying without going to state. It was a long summer for Matison. She went straight from Falls Creek to the nationals in Iowa without even going home. She won MVP of the first game, but during the tournament she slid into home, the catcher fell on her, and Matison broke her tailbone. All you can do for a broken tailbone is to rest, so she took just enough time to let it heal and then was right back at it again.
When she was thirteen, she started playing with her cousins’ team, the Oklahoma Storm. It was 16 and under ball, but she always liked a challenge. The coaches are Chris Birchfield and Hoss Ward, who also pitches for a men’s fast pitch team. After that she played with the Athletics. This team was coached by Keith Childers and was the first organization team she had played for that had more than one team in the group. They won all the time and had a lot of fun playing together. It was a very selective team that included try-outs. They went to the Nationals again, this time when she was fourteen. She started playing high school ball as a freshman. Her sophomore year she played with the Hurricanes, coached by Jim Gasso, and then returned officially to the Oklahoma Storm.
In between all the travel teams and her team at Latta, Matison is always booked up, doing what she loves. Her team at Latta, coached by Jim Foster, made it to state semifinals this past year. At the moment, Matison is verbally committed to play ball at Rose State when she graduates. She wants to start off at a two-year college so she doesn’t have the four year commitment and also so she can start playing right away. After Rose State, if she wants to continue, it is likely that she will be able to play Division I fast pitch softball. Softball has taught Matison many lessons. She has learned the importance of perseverance, striving toward your goal, and hard work. She has learned the importance of family. Watching her older sister Ashli play ball influenced her greatly. Her older other sister, Britani, who passed away in 2012, is
also close to her heart. Since Britani passed, Matison always wears purple on the mound to commemorate her life and memory. Her parents, who have always been there for her, encourage her and sacrifice for her so she can fulfil her dreams. Her Memaw and Papaw, Willie and Dorothy Hayes, would help with everything they could, traveling with them, getting hotel rooms, and watching all the games. In the end, though, when it is Matison on the mound, using all the skills she has learned through extensive experience and training, everything melts away. All the problems, everything going on in her life, just disappear. It is just her and the ball and the batter in front of her. There is quiet, and there is peace, and, knowing Matison, there is most likely a win.
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