Photo Credit : Loving Mother 👩

Martinsville : If someone asked me what I did for a living, my answer would be that I’m very good at reading a room and then devising a plan to correct the issue I see.

Last week, we ( Carroll County High School volleyball 🏐) played a Monday night match at Pulaski County, and we lost to the Cougars, dropping two straight after opening at 7-1.

Not wanting to see the losing streak reach three in a row, I coordinated a Cav Man drive by on US-58 in Laurel Fork. The fact that two of the owners jumped in bumped it up a notch or two.

Both reams defeated Bassett that night to my job was done ✔️.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago when the team was headed over to Martinsville to face the Lady Bulldogs. My first thought process was to recreate the Cav Man scene, but there was no way that would make a big difference the second time around. The ladies might be young, but they are bright 🌞.

First things first, there was minimal chance that we were going to lose to the ‘ Dawgs so the focus was on making the players smile and laugh in between Coach fussing at them..

My wife watched me create little cheat sheets for both rosters because while I think that I know all 30 players without help, that is not a chance you take.

During the JV match, I took the time to count every single person in the gym who wasn’t wearing a VB jersey. Sadly, the answer was 29. The JV match felt like it was being played in a library, and at any minute, some lady with glasses was going to come by and shush us if we cheered at all. It was kinda sad, to say the least. The JV swept, and then I crossed the court to chat with the Boss !

The level of trust and appreciation that Cindy Edwards has for my efforts is the key 🔑 to our partnership. The conversation was a short one, and I headed back across the gymnasium.

What Cindy Edwards and our Lady Cavaliers needed was a full-blown cheerleader, and that was within my wheelhouse. But, late in the first set, Ali Wright went up for a kill and sadly rolled her ankle.

The older of the Wright Sisters was done for the evening, and my attention turned to their Mother. She was sitting just behind me, snapping pictures 📸 with her trusty camera. Ali went to the bench and iced 🧊 her ankle for the remainder of the match.

Carleigh is a freshman, three years younger than her Big Sis. She has been part of the program for a bit now, but this is her first at the top level.

Now, you shift gears ⚙️ a bit by cheering harder and keeping an eye on the younger Sister.

While this story is about Mama Bear 🐻 and her two Cubs, it would be wrong to not acknowledge that the injury slid Raylee Goins into a different role and Patti’s Kiddo excelled in the attack mode slot. How high was she jumping, asked the audience ???? High enough that Howard Mayo would enjoy watching 👀 the game film 🎥!

Hi – D Pain- ter, 👏👏, HI- D Pain-ter was one of many chants that I came up with, Alyssa Law-Son was another. Cheering every good play and serve, remaining quiet when we scored points off mistakes made by the home team. Toss in some encouragement when we made an error.

Little Sis had a rough serve along the way, so when luck had her on the service line trying to complete the sweep, my brain 🧠 raced for the home run cheer.

It went like this – take us home, Carleigh.

Home turned into home run, then a glance at Mom staring at her older Cub, who was still icing her ankle across the way. I immediately thought about the scene in The Pride of the Yankees ( 1942, Gary Cooper as Lou Gerhig ) in which a little boy dying in the hospital is promised two home runs.

I look at Lil Sis and shout out, ” Win this for your Sister “. She then served our 24th and 25th points, and we all went home happy 😊

Now, the odds that a group of teen age girls 👧 would know a famous baseball scene from an 85 year old movie is minimal at best, but I promise you this thing for sure. Half of the group might have appreciated it, and the other half might have found it embarrassing, but none of them left there talking about the saddest, quietest volleyball 🏐 match in the history of the world.

The things that you do for other people’s kiddos……

We return to action on Tuesday night on The Hill, where all I have to do is hold a 🎤🎙🎤.

Two more closing thoughts – first, while I didn’t grow up in Carroll County, the part of US-58 that runs between Martinsville and Buggs Island Lake is where I spent my youth. That is where my father grew up and we couldn’t afford vacations so the only place we ever went was to my grandparents’ little country store.

When the match ended, I went over and thanked their fans for being gracious about one person who wouldn’t stop making noise. Not one time did I cheer against them, just for us. I ended the exchange by inviting them to visit us on The Hill, and if they did, I would make sure that they felt welcome 🙏.

There was one final Wright Sister smile or two cracked. I had asked little Sis if she loved her Big Sis she half smiled 😃 and half blank stared me, like what is his deal ?

As we were about to leave, I asked Ali if she knew her Sister loved her ? I added, she told me so….Ali responded back, ” She lied to you……”

Circle Back 🔵

1. I am an exceptional cheerleader
2. Carroll County swept both matches
3. Ali Wright is recovering nicely
4. Raylee Goins has made Hops !
5. Our unofficial record is now 14-5
6. Mama Bear 🐻 raised two neat young ladies.
7. Half Pint Harris made an appearance from Ferrum
8. Travis Osborne has a neat set of In-Laws
9. Cindy Edwards enjoyed me chanting Cin-D Ed-wards over and over.
10. Scratch that #9, but Coach knows that I have her back 100%, so she has learned to tolerate me !

Some of Cindy Edwards players went on to play College VB. Others took a different approach….

Carroll County High School volleyball, coming to The Hill on Tuesday night !!!

Sometimes, my world 🌎 moves too fast for me, and my mind is built for too fast. So, every now and then, I slow 🐌 down and try to explain why a particular story appears.

This story is brought to us by Mrs Joi Ogle, and that group shot is full of some top-shelf people with ties to Carroll County, Virginia.

https://swimcloud.com/results/395663

The link above will take you over to the swim 🏊‍♀️ meet results from the meet today. I encourage everyone who is interested in swimming to check it out.

The reason why I created the Saved by the Bell 🔔 portion of our efforts was I had and have plans to provide start to finish coverage of Alyssa Ervin and Furman University. If you have to practice what you Preach and my message is about equality, across the board.

If I have space and time for Miss Ervin, then I should have space for ALL former Cavaliers that are playing college sports. Elijah Cox and Callie Harris are two great examples of others this year.

But like everything else I do, coverage is a choice that each family should have in regard to both high school and college. The next level is at the high school,  it’s a coach to coach decision, and I respect their wishes.

It is actually easier for me where college is concerned because it removes the choice that a high school 🏫 coach has to make, which is, do I see any benefit in letting this ( fill in the blank of what you wish to call me) anywhere near my program???? Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it is No, and then there is a third answer that I can not use because this is a family thing, rated G.

Today, one mother 👩, who I happen to admire a great deal, attended a swim meet that included her Kiddo. She had double duty as both his mother and his swim coach. Today, Joi  has double duty as Wyatt’s Mother and biggest fan. She shared with me the thought process of not being his coach today.

Sure, I could spend hours searching college websites or, worse yet, looking through other people’s social media. I barely have time to create content for the people who want to share their terrific news about their pride and joy. It’s just that simple…

When I circle back on a storyline from time to time, it’s to help other readers. We have reached people in 50 different countries around the world now, and some folks want to understand.

Circle Back 🔵 – Mrs Joi Ogle lives in a place that I labeled ” The Hill.” She is as kind 😇 of a soul that you could ever meet. Her and her husband both coach at the school, and together, they raised two impressive Kiddos.

Today, Joi attended a swim meet with others from The Hill, and she had a choice, one that everyone has – do I want to take three minutes and send something to Around the Valley or just put it on Facebook ?

  There are many people who love Joi Ogle and her family, but they don’t live on social media.

I will add that my non-social media effort, which is designed to protect the people that I care about from bullying, I miss out in interaction with folks like Danny Dean.

Sacrifices happen in life when you are fighting for a cause.

Now, here’s the final proof of what I stand for – I’m not going to click on the link above myself, I don’t need to know if he finished first, second, or last.

My story is about a Mother’s Love ❤️ and her little boy 👦, who has grown into an impressive young man. I should add that Mr Ogle displayed a level of parenting at the banquet last year that made me smile. He shared it with Kris Richardson that night. Why is that relevant to this story ? Because you can not produce a Kiddo the level of Wyatt Ogle by yourself…

Joi, Thank You for everything you do and for sharing part of it here ! See 👀 you on Tuesday night, I hope !

The funny thing about Ferrum College is that it falls in the ” you cannot get there from here ” category. Winding roads, poor cell service, and the fear 😨 of hitting a deer 🦌 are the top 3 reasons not to go over there.

Any time that I’m given a four or five minute window 🪟, I will do my best to sneak in a sermon of some type. The easiest one is to ask the question, what are the two meanest words when you put them together ?????

The answer : ” It’s Just “. Give it some thought….and I will use going over to Ferrum College tonight as my example.

” It’s just volleyball “

” It’s just Ferrum College “

” It’s just Division 2 sports “

And the worst one of all would be, ” it’s just Callie Harris “

If you don’t have time to do something, it’s absolutely okay not to do it. People are mad busy, but don’t use it’s just in your conversation.

My brain 🧠 and heart ❤️ are wired differently from others, and that is both good and bad. That combination allowed me to have a remarkable career , but now it keeps me from sleeping through the night.

Case in point, last night as we were leaving the Gym it was at the same time that Paige Ogle and her father were heading home.

Paige is a freshman in high school now, and if that’s not scary enough, she plays volleyball for a loving but somewhat intimidating coach ( I can say that because I love Cindy Edwards). Let’s add in that both her parents are well respected in the community, and her Big Brother, who she loves, has gone off to college.

Her mother has a contagious smile full of love and warmth. Business kept her from being in the Gym last night and I know that Paige missed her. The two reasons I know this – I once had two teenage daughters ➕️ I missed her being there too.

Mr. Ogle and I are not two people who hang out together, but I have nothing but respect for him. I wanted to make Paige smile, and my attempt actually created a moment for both of them. Mission Accomplished.

Joi, we all missed you last night!

What you just read right there is my brain 🧠 and heart ❤️, after announcing for almost five hours. I was just trying to get to my car 🚗 and drive home.

When it’s all over, my headstone 🪦 should simply read, ” He Cared “

This story was written for Marion Harris and Joi Ogle, not because I am chasing Facebook likes but because I respect both families. When I post it, it will only go out to those two people, and beyond that, it is there’s.