Gettin’ a little bit stronger.

Towards the end of the 2017 football season, head coach Mark Sander suffered from a mini stroke that not only affected him, but the whole team.  

Coach Sander recently endured a mini stroke that was a shock to everyone around him. The event took a major toll on his players and coaches, who care for him deeply. The team took the event to heart and wanted to work hard to make Sander proud.

Junior football player, Ty Hawkins says that Sander’s mini stroke made the team work and play even harder. “They all played with more heart and they left it on the field no matter how much we were losing by,” said Hawkins. The team played with a great amount of effort and heart in what ended up being their last game of the season. “We were playing that game for him,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins says that Sander has not only made an impact on him as a football player, but has also taught him many skills that apply off of the field. “He’s challenged me as a player to be the best that I can be. He’s taught me many different skills not just in football but outside as well,” said Hawkins. To show their love and support for Sander and all that he has done, the team bought and signed cards for him, some of the players even gave him gift cards.  

Assistant football coach, Bryan Mullins, says that the team showed more love and respect for Sander in addition to buying him cards, by talking to him in one of the hardest times. “One thing that they did do is that we had a conference call with him while he was in the hospital, so they had the opportunity to talk to him, you know, which he appreciated,” said Mullins.

Mullins says that it really affected the team to lose Sander in the last week of practice and games. “Obviously it hurts losing your head coach and we lost him at the beginning of the week so that certainly played a big factor probably in the outcome of the game,” said Mullins. Mullins says that the team battled hard not only for Sander, but also because they had been working and playing hard all year and wanted to keep that going.