What do I want to see in 2019? I want to see every Coupeville athlete show the heart Alita Blouin does. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
How best to end 2018? With a story.
It’s one small moment from a year, but it says so much, without a word being spoken aloud.
To set the scene, I will say this — in the world of high school and middle school sports, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, matters as much as heart.
I’m not naive. Talent is huge. Top-level facilities, inspiring coaches, access to quality equipment, all obviously have a major impact.
Camped here in the middle of a rock, which sits in the water, quite a distance from the opportunities enjoyed by big city schools, or Richie Rich private schools, or the combination of both, provides a major hurdle for Coupeville teams and athletes.
It is what it is.
You can complain all day, or you can get working.
And that is where heart comes in.
The best athletes I have witnessed come through Cow Town, the most-successful teams, all have something in common – they do not quit, they do not stop working, and they believe, down deep in their soul, that there is absolutely, positively NO REASON they can’t be the best.
Marlene Grasser to Makana Stone, Bill Riley to Hunter Smith, heart, above all else.
And this is where we come to my year-capping story.
Over the past couple of years, I have been very impressed with the Wolf female athletes who are currently in 8th grade at Coupeville Middle School.
There is talent, desire, and heart to be found in their male counterparts, but this group, which has come up playing together, is something different.
From Maddie Georges to Gwen Gustafson to Hayley Fiedler and beyond, they have an air about them very similar to what the Coupeville High School girls of the late ’90s and early 2000’s had.
That time period is the most successful in CHS female athletic history, and I believe this current crop, especially mixed with the class or two right above and below them, is primed to make their own history.
And one moment, a small, but significant moment during warm-ups, not even in a game, has sealed the deal for me.
Of all the CMS female athletes, Alita “The Assassin” Blouin is the one, who, for me, towers above the field.
She’s not very tall, maybe, but she is quick and, this is where it gets good, every time I have seen her play volleyball or basketball, she carries herself with the look of a young woman who fully intends to beat you, and beat you badly.
Off the court, all smiles, as friendly as anyone, but on the court, she looks like she wants to rip her opponent’s knees off and feed them through a wood chipper.
To which I say, YES.
It’s about dang time a Coupeville athlete didn’t back down at the sight of a fancy uniform, time they expected to win, and win because they had put in the hard work to get there.
Which brings us to our moment.
As CMS went through warm-ups before a volleyball match this season, the 8th grade team started to run laps around the floor.
Blouin, a team captain, was out in front, serious and locked-in. No coasting for her.
At which point, one of her teammates, Lucy Tenore, who is considerably taller than Blouin and has a much-longer stride, started to try and pass her friend.
Blouin would not let it happen.
Tenore, smile growing bigger and bigger, tried a second time, then a third, while Blouin refused to give in.
Legs pumping, elbows at alert, Blouin fended off Tenore at every turn, using three steps to cover the ground Tenore covered in one, all the while with her face locked in a death mask of concentration.
Tenore, fully laughing at this point, finally relented, only to see Blouin kick it up a notch to a sprinter’s run to finish the final curve, one eye looking over her shoulder just in case anyone else wanted to get foolish.
During the match, the duo dazzled, with Blouin popping perfect set-ups for Tenore to reach up and smash. With each winner, they hugged, smacked hands and smiled.
After the match, the two hung out together in the stands, half-sprawled across each other as only teen girls can pull off, laughing and talking, the best of friends.
But the statement had been made — no one, no where, no how, is going to get past Alita Blouin, a relatively small girl with a heart the size of the universe.
I doubt very many people noticed the moment. And if they did, they might not have thought anything of it at the time.
But in that moment, everything I hope to see as a grizzled sports writer, was on display.
As we head into 2019, what do I want for Coupeville sports?
I want every single Wolf athlete, high school and middle school, to attack the day like Alita Blouin does.
Do that, and there’s greatness ahead.
