It is clear that Palmetto High School is looked at as an "underdog" school amongst other schools pertaining to sports. Many athletes get frustrated with this, and instead of making them work harder, it makes them want to quit or give up. This frustration has been shown by not only athletes, but with coaches also. Palmetto High School is constantly labled as a bad school, and with that reputation comes a reputation of a bad sports program. This assumtion is untrue. Palmetto High School's coaches and athletes give everything they have every year, in season and out of season and practice hard to improve and get better. Just like any other leading schools in manatee county. But where this frustration comes in, is Palmetto High School is not recognized for this effort, for example; Our soccer team has reached the final four, two years in a row, Our football team has a new head coach and is getting new score boards, helmets, practice gear, etc., Our row team, which is the first of its kind in Manatee County, is up and running and is supported and sponsored by Jane Lynch, our volleyball team bought new uniforms, and our track just was refinished and painted for the upcoming season.
Instead of looking at Palmetto High School as an underdog, we should be looked as a school to expect improvement from. It has taken a while to finally get to a point of success but with dedication and hard work, we are making our way up slowly, but surley. Our community can expect great things from the Palmetto High School sports program in the years to come.
It is sad that our community here at Palmetto doesn't receive any love from those across the bridge. We have phenominal athletes here at PHS that not only dedicate their time in the classroom, but go above and beyond for their team. I was looking at old Palmetto stories in the Bradenton Herald, and this is a great one. Really puts into perspective our sports program.
ReplyDelete*Which Manatee County school has the most graduates currently on Division I (FBS/FCS) football rosters?
Most people would say Southeast or Manatee, but Palmetto currently has enough ex-players to field a starting lineup with 11.
The list is pretty impressive: Mistral Raymond (USF), Kedric Johnson (Florida), Kerchal Byrd (Tulane), Damian Copeland (Louisville), Chris and Donald Smith (Northern Illinois), Donald Campbell (Western Kentucky), Ty Scott (WKU), Brandon Tarpley (UCF), Joe Hills (Tennessee State), Deonta Tate (Youngstown).
*Written in the Bradenton Herald 2010.
http://www.bradenton.com/2010/11/07/2717401/tigers-lead-county-at-college.html