My days of shooting high school football have come to an end. At least for this year. Our last local team from Refugio, Texas, was eliminated in the state regional quarterfinals at the Alamodome in San Antonio over the weekend. I decided to tag along and take a couple of snap shots while I was there.
Before the game started, I think I may have creeped out some of the cheerleaders. They were practicing their flips along the sideline as the team was warming up on the field. I thought it would be neat to try and freeze one upside down with the team in the background. I prefocused, set my camera down on the ground and shot a couple of frames. It didn't take long for one the cheerleaders to notice. I'm not sure what she thought, but they abruptly stopped and ran to the other end of the field. I didn't really get what I wanted, but whatever.
The game went alright. Nothing stellar as far as action. Refugio couldn't get anything going in the first half, which I used as an excuse for not really getting a decent photo. The second half went much better for me. Not so much for Refugio.
It was interception and turnover central for Refugio. And it seemed like they couldn't do anything to stop the opposing team's running back.
The coaches were not happy.
But the people who were really unhappy (beside the players and families and such), were the cheerleaders. I'm not sure why, but at every playoff game I've shot, the cheerleaders always seem to burst into tears. I get that it is a sad event to see your school lose, but it always puzzles me how emotionally invested they are.
There two girls were crying behind me, and I really wanted to take their picture. I turned quickly and fired off two frames before the girl on the right gave me this disgusted look and ushered her sobbing friend away. I had actually tried to shoot the girl on the right earlier. Before the game was over she sat down on the bench next to (I assume) her football player boyfriend. He was "overcome with emotion" (football players don't cry) as I stood behind them. I tried to use my mental powers to get her to put her arm around him or make some sort of comforting gesture. She didn't, so the photo didn't really make. At that point I was pretty sure the girl wasn't going to be thrilled to give me her name anyway.
By the end just about everyone was crying. With so many "emotional" players, I felt kind of guilty singling one or two out for a photo. So I avoided the crying player shot. I was very excited, however, to get this shot.
I just love this little water boy! He offered his support to one of the emotional players as the team came off the field. It was something different and unexpected, I thought, so I was super excited I got it.
The Joe Garza Youth Orchestra had a Christmas Concert last week. I did a little story on the group at the beginning of the summer when they held their very first concert as an orchestra. I thought it was such a great idea: offering free lessons and borrowed instruments to kids who's families may not have the means to be a part of such a thing. They've had the lessons for years at a local recreation center, but this past year they secured a grant and were able to purchase dozens of new instruments. Enough to put together a little orchestra. We almost didn't cover their Christmas show, but I managed to squeeze it in before heading to a basketball assignment. 
