On February 2nd, the Lady Vikings basketball program held their 2nd Annual “Vikings vs Cancer Day.” On this day, the entire Village School community was encouraged to wear pink to unite behind a common goal to help raise awareness. The amount of support from our community was overwhelming. Students, faculty, and parents generously contributed and showed the impact we can have. The night culminated with a Lady Vikings district basketball game. At halftime of the game, the team stood at half court while Head Coach, Doug Brotherton, thanked the crowd for their incredible support and the contributions that were made. He also recognized one of our Village School faculty members, Diane Staff. Diane is a Kindergarten teacher at The Village School who is courageously battling cancer. Anyone who knows Diane understands that she displays the type of “Servant Leadership,” which we try to instill in each of our athletes. Despite everything going on in her own life, Diane continues to make it her mission to serve her family, friends, students, and co-workers. The Lady Vikings went on to win the game, but the greatest victory was the impact we had as a school to help raise awareness and donate to an organization that will help a family get the necessary treatment and service they need.

At Diane’s request, all proceeds from the T-Shirt sales, admission, and concessions from that day went directly to The Rose Houston. The Rose Houston is an agency that helps affected women by providing financial relief to ensure quality health care and treatment. With the incredible support of the Village School community, the Lady Vikings were able to donate a check in the amount of $3,400 in Diane Staff’s name. On June 2nd, the Lady Vikings and Diane presented the check to Shannon McNair, a representative of The Rose Foundation. It was a touching moment, and comforting to know that the money raised will be best served to help a person and family who needs it.

Thank you to our Village School community for helping raise awareness and for your generous contributions. Because of your help, someone will receive the treatment they need to assist them in their own recovery. It takes a Village.

The Athlete of the Year Award recognizes an individual (male and female) who competed in at least 2 sport seasons, and has been recognized for achieving the highest level of success within his/her sports. This award represents someone who not only competed for Village at the highest level, but who has been a responsible member of the school community, shown sportsmanship and leadership among peers, and has been seen as a coachable student-athlete.

The Female Athlete of the Year Award came down to 3 nominees: Charlotte S, Elisa F, and Amber P. Each student-athlete had tremendous years for the Vikings, and all will be returning as Senior student-athletes next year. The winner for the 2015-16 Female Athlete of the Year Award went to Junior, Amber P.

Amber is a 3 sport athlete. In the Fall, Amber was co-MVP of the girls volleyball team and 2nd Team All-District. In the Winter, Amber played on the basketball team and won the Coaches Award for her outstanding leadership on and off the court, as well as her excellent play throughout the year. Amber was a huge contributor on the best girls basketball team in school history that went 26-7 and went on to the Elite 8 of the TAPPS State Tournament. In the Spring, Amber played lacrosse and earned team MVP. Amber led the team in every statistical category. She also earned TGHSLL All-State recognition. Amber also earned Academic All-State in the Fall and Winter seasons.

The Male Athlete of the Year Award also came down to 3 nominees: Dralyn D, Ross B, and Ben A. This group featured 2 Seniors, and a Sophomore. After close consideration, it was decided that the winner of the 2015-16 Male Athlete of the Year Award was Sophomore, Ben Abueg.

Ben is a 3 sport athlete. In the Fall, Ben ran cross country and earned team MVP. He also finished 11th at the TAPPS 4A State Meet, just 1 spot shy of All-State. In the Winter, Ben was a starter on the boys basketball team that advanced to the Final 4 of the State Tournament. Ben played an important role with his defense, energy, and athleticism, which helped win him the Coaches Award. In the Spring, Ben was the MVP of Track & Field. After winning District and Regionals in the 800m, Ben went on to finish 4th in the State Meet in the same event. He also qualified for State in the boys 400, and finished 7th in it.

Congratulations to our 2015-16 Male and Female Athlete of the Year Award winners: Ben A, and Amber P!

This past weekend 10 Village High School boys competed in VHS’s first ever Ultimate Frisbee State Tournament in Round Rock, TX. The boys earned this birth by competing on weekends over the past school year against other Houston schools and winning the season-ending Houston tournament. The boys are:

Alvaro I
Duncan R
Marco S
Bin D Y
Mack H
Philip V
Federico R
Paschalis E
Ji H P
Yash A

The state tournament was dominated by torrential rain, and was moved to Selma Sunday. However, torrential rains cancelled the matches on Sunday also. (At the time of this writing there is still no declared winner.) Unofficially Village went 1-3-1 over 2 days, and although we were not among the teams vying for the championship, this state tournament was a first for Village school.

The VHS Ultimate team started as a Friday club 5 years ago on the fields where Dorm A now stands. Over the next couple years, they moved to the parking lot behind the middle school. They reached out to other high schools and organized weekend matches wherever they could find a place that would let them play. They referee their own games, designed and bought their own team shirts, and provided for their own equipment needs and tournament entry fees. In other words, the Ultimate Team is a prime example of a student-led and run entity. It could easily have died a number of times but for the passion especially of a few individual students, who not only kept the team alive but also discovered the essence of the game. So please recognize these boys who have taken us from a parking lot to the state tournament.

The 2016 Village Athletic Golf Tournament was another exciting and fantastic event. With 28 teams and 112 golfers competing in this year’s event, it made for a lot of excitement all over the course and throughout the day. Despite the weather, everyone at Pine Forest Country Club was in high spirits, and some groups had some awesome golf attire to make the event an instant “classic” (Marilyn Monroe’s, we are looking at you!!) With a wide range of Viking sponsors, contributors, staff members, parents, and students all competing in the event, it was great to see so many people come together in support of our community and Viking Athletics. All together, we were able to raise $32,000 which will directly impact our athletics program and teams. On behalf of The Village School Athletic Department, thank you to everyone who contributed and for making this a fantastic event.

Prior to tee off, the Helicopter Ball Drop took place over the golf range. As the chopper came in, it dumped numbered golf balls over a hole. Those numbers were assigned to people who purchased a golf ball/balls. With approximately 200 golf balls, it was anyone’s guess who would be the winner. The winner would be determined based on which numbered ball went in a hole, or closest to the hole. This year’s winner of the ball drop was our very own Village employee, Shaista Sheihk, who claimed $850! Congrats, Shaista!

The event also had awesome prizes, including: 3 closest to the pin contests, men’s long and straight drive contests, junior long and straight drive contests, and women’s long and straight drive contests. The winners of these events were: Aidan C, Taylor Hastings, Chris Hill, Alan Riffle, LaTonya Purnell, Brian Nedela, and Bo Bi Tian! Congrats to everyone who won a prize!

Congratulations to the winning foursome of: Rocky Montoney, Jeff Welch, Mike Willett, and Gary Kirkes, who posted a 60 (-12) to win the tournament! Your name is being engraved on our trophy and you will now be etched in history along with all of the event’s past and future champions! Congrats!

The Village Viking boys golf team advanced to the State Golf Tournament for the first time in school history. Looking back at their journey to get there, the boys finished 3rd at the District Tournament, the Vikings headed into the Regional Tournament seeded 5th out of 8 teams, with the top 4 advancing to State. The Vikings played incredible golf, breaking a school record by scoring 323 and finishing 2nd place at the Regional Tournament. The Vikings were led by Seniors, Ross B and Fraser K, who both finished top 10 overall. The girls team also qualified Mariana O as a medalist, who finished 8th at the Regional Tournament, and was headed back to the State Tournament for the second straight year.

At the State Tournament, the boys team was seeded 6th out of 8 teams based on Regional Tournament scores. Day 1 of the State Tournament was certainly a challenge for everyone who competed. With temperatures in the low 50’s, strong winds, and rain early on which took the golfers off the course for over an hour, the elements were certainly a force to be reckoned with. Everyone’s scores were higher and it was tough to score. After Day 1, the Vikings were in 6th place, but were within striking distance and single digit strokes away from the 5th and 4th place teams. Day 2 of the State Tournament was a much more enjoyable round with scoring friendly conditions. The temperatures reach the low 70’s, with little wind, and the sun shining. With that said, the Vikings improved on their first round score, but it wasn’t enough to make up the difference and finished 6th in State. Mariana also improved on her first round score, and shot a 94 on Day 2, with a 43 on the back 9.

In the middle of all the action, was senior and two-time State Soccer Champion, Ross B. Ross shot a 79 on Day 1 of the State Tournament, which put him in 8th place. The top 10 golfers after the second round of the tournament would finish First Team All-State. Paired in the second group for the final round, Ross battled against some of the state’s best golfers, some of which who are already committed to top flight Universities on golf scholarships. Ross held his own and played beautiful golf. After an Even par front nine, Ross had some bad luck on the back nine and battled through adversity. After an unfortunate turn of events on hole 12, Ross had to re-tee after losing his ball in some thick rough that was just off the fairway. Ross was 6 over on his back 9 heading into the 16th hole. On the Par 3, 16th, Ross hit his tee shot just left of the green, but had a tough up and down to save par. After a beautiful pitch shot that left him with a 5 ft par putt, Ross buried it to save par. Clutch. On the Par 4, 17th, Ross hit a beautiful tee shot that split the fairway. His approach shot was just right of the green, which left him another delicate chip shot. Ross executed to perfection, and tapped in a par putt. With the par 5, 18th remaining, Ross was 6 over and needed to at least make par to have a chance to make All-State. Ross’ tee shot was solid, just off the fairway, but had a look at the green. Needing to make a move, Ross went for the green in two and ended up just left of the green, with a pitch shot over a bunker that needed to be executed. About to hit his 3rd shot, Ross pitched the ball up on the green, but left it about 40 feet from the hole. Not his best effort. At this point, you have to make sure that you make a nice lag putt, cozy it up by the hole, and take your par. Ross studied the putt from all sides of the hole. He committed to his line, stood over the ball, and struck it crisply. The ball started on a promising line with plenty of pace. About halfway towards the hole, you could tell that the ball was tracking nicely. It kept rolling, and rolling, and rolling, still on line. And then…IN IT WENT! On the final hole of his high school career, Ross B birdied the par 5, 18th hole to finish with a score of 77, tying the school record. At this point, we had to wait and see for the scores to come in. When it was all said and done, Ross tied for 9th place and finished All-State. That birdie putt on his last and final hole proved to be the clinching putt that secured an All-State finish. Cinderella ending for the young lad.