South Texas College will be hosting its annual sports tournament at the Pecan campus on Sat., Nov. 23. The tournament gives early college students an opportunity to participate in sports activities at least once a year. Students must be passing all their classes in order to compete at the event.

Students formed teams and began practicing in each of their respective sports a month before the tournament. Competitors from different early colleges will compete against each other in volleyball, three versus three basketball, and soccer. 

Coach Guadalupe Barrera is managing the teams from Carter, supervising practices, taking care that rosters are complete and accurate for the teams, and making sure there is medical equipment available for the games on Saturday. Barrera says that students need to put in the time and effort to practice if they want to do well.

“The kids practice on their own time. Some practice during lunch and some stay after school,” Barrera said.

Junior Briana Martinez, captain of the volleyball team, says that she hopes her fellow classmates will attend the event on Saturday to support the school’s athletes.

“It would really help if many people from school came to support us,” Briana said.

Briana also mentioned that the JCEC girls volleyball team has won second place for the past two years, and that she hopes the team will continue their success this year.

The event will last all day at the STC Pecan campus this Saturday. 

 

I was born on December 3rd, 2003 in McAllen, Texas. My parents are Jose Adan Del Angel and Elizabeth Flores. I was a calm, observant baby who loved being read to. My family always talks about how easy it was to take care of me and that I never gave them any trouble. My first language was Spanish, as I lived with my grandparents for the first half of my life and they only spoke Spanish. My first brother was born when I was four, and my second brother was born when I was thirteen. When I started going to school, my teachers noticed that I knew everything they were teaching me and that I wasn’t learning, so they had me skip the last half of 1st grade and I started the next semester in 2nd grade. Ever since then, I’ve been much younger than the other people in my grade. As I went through elementary, my parents pushed me to be a good student and always try my best. I met friends in elementary that I am still close with now, I am grateful for them. When I entered Memorial Middle School, my parents were a little more lenient with me and as a result, my grades dropped a little, but I was happier and less stressed. I still had the competitive fire that drove me in elementary, but it would only show itself occasionally. Middle school was my transition from an introverted nerd to an open, easygoing person who could carry a conversation with anyone. I didn’t take my education too serious, only because everything was still easy for me at the time, my ego started growing and growing, until the advanced classes I was placed in gave me a much-needed dose of reality. I found that I was terrible at math, and still am to this day. I began trying harder in my classes because I realized I didn’t know everything. When Mr. Bernal came to recruit kids for Jimmy Carter, I realized that this was my opportunity to take my education to the next level by taking advantage of all the benefits that an early college offers. I applied, and luckily got accepted, and I am grateful for everything that I have learned and all the wonderful people that I have met here. I look forward to finishing high school and graduating with my associate's degree.