Going to try and connect some dots in this one.
Q : Why did I ask Bill Gallimore to tell me which one of the Fab Four to write ✍ about first ?
A: While there are a number of people that I think keep up with our site everyday, I know that Bill does and asking him the question allows him to be a part of the story and that’s one of the goals in the day 2 day efforts.
Question #2 comes from the person who is as invested as anyone in the efforts of Lin and I, Kris Richardson.
Q – I know what the overall goal is but what has worked in the past, what should it look like ?
A – In the case of naming the group of record breakers the Fab Four, the goal is to allow Emma Leath, Jabin Talley and Ashlyn Newman to share the same stage as Alyssa Ervin.
We are chasing equality across the board with the goal being to have the backup shortstop on the Junior Varsity team being seen to have the same value as the Varsity Quarterback or in our case, Ervin.
The goal before the campaign is completed is to write ✍ a feature story about each of the four without appearing to rank their level of importance.
Alyssa Ervin is Alyssa Ervin, so if the goal is to preach equality, then she can’t be first.
Ashlyn Newman has accomplished so much in her four years, both on the Soccer ⚽️ pitch and the classroom. That would have been an easy, easy choice.
Jabin Talley is coming off such a dominant four seasons on the Tennis 🎾 Courts and started on a Boys Basketball 🏀 team that had one of the most successful seasons in school history, so he also would be a solid leadoff hitter.
Emma Leath is possibly as close as I have to their being an actual Kiddo on one of the teams. Softball is my sport of choice and has been for decades so there is connection #1. Cavalier Park is by far my favorite place in Carroll County outside of my own home so obviously that would have been an easy choice.
But now Mr. Gallimore is invested in the story as well.
Next step is to build a frame for the story. We know that Jabin is a very good tennis 🎾 player and that he is headed to Southwest Virginia Community College to play for the Flying Eagles. We also know that when he does, he will become the first graduate 🎓 of Carroll County High School 🏫 to play college tennis.
We know that Jabin has a loving and supportive family 👪 who are in the crowd everytime he is competing. We know that for the past two years his Father has been his Tennis coach and Anthony Barnes has been his Basketball 🏀 coach.
The story that I’m trying to create here is designed to be a keepsake for the Talley Family to have for years to come. It’s supposed to be a Thank You 🙏 from the CCHS community for Jabin giving four years to lead our tennis program and its designed for people to ” sign the Thank You card.”
Anyone that has enjoyed the young man 👨 can contribute to the story because the second most important word after Equality is Inclusion.
Here’s a list of examples as to the folks that might have thoughts they could share –
- Jabin Talley
- His Tennis Coach
- His doubles partner
- Any teacher that enjoyed having him in class.
- Any CCHS administrator that appreciated his efforts.
- His Mother
- His Father
- His Step Father
- His Grandpa
- Anyone who is part of the Basketball program.
- Anyone part of the Tennisprogram.
- Anyone that witnessed 👀 a part of Jabin, on or off the court.
- Any relative not mentioned already.
I call him our Tennis 🎾 prodigy because he represents us. The representation took place at a high enough level that it surpassed anyone in the first 50+ years of the Schools history.
That, Kris, is where my goal fell ridiculously short. There wasn’t a push for folks to attend matches during the sseason or to take off from work on consecutive days to travel to Christiansburg during Regionals. Just a hope that if someone gave of themselves across a four year span and did so at a higher rate than it had ever been done before, we could take the time to sign and Thank You card.
Congratulations 👏👏👏 Jabin Talley and Thank You for wearing our Colors to proudly !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 