Return of Pioneer Volleyball Shows “There’s Always Another Point to Play”. (September Newsletter)
Pioneer Family,
Happy Monday and Happy Fall, my friends!
Capturing the unique feel of the season, F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote in The Great Gatsby, “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”
And while life in the fall looks different, and often feels different, perhaps what Fitzgerald captures so well is that beginning again does not necessarily mean leaving everything behind. More often, life carries pieces of what came before into something new. An old passion finds new life. Familiar faces sometimes return to familiar places, with new perspective or renewed purpose. And paths we thought were closed off have a way of crossing ours again.
All of this serves to remind us that moving forward and returning to where we have been are not always opposite directions.
And perhaps nowhere in our building has that spirit been more evident than in the return of Pioneer Girls Volleyball.
After years away from the court, our Pioneer Ladies could hardly have written a better opening chapter. In their first match of the season against Our Lady of Tepeyac, the team found themselves down six points in the third set—-and despite being a team of mostly underclassmen playing their first game of the season together—-they did not shy away from the challenge. Instead, they dug in, encouraged one another, and battled back, earning a dramatic game one victory, and in the process—-underscoring a motto that is fitting not only for the season, but for our school and our Southside community:
Being behind does not mean being finished.
Sometimes progress simply asks that we keep showing up, keep believing in one another, and keep playing for the next point.
And again, it is fitting that this Pioneer tradition would return under the leadership of an alumna—Coach Christina Colon, who returned to 10155 with not only over 20 years of coaching experience, but with the perspective, pride and sense of purpose that only returning home can bring.
And that sense of looking both backward and forward extends beyond the volleyball court. This fall 10155 finds itself looking in several directions at once—celebrating what has returned, preparing our seniors for what comes next, and looking ahead to the future Pioneers who may soon call De Sales home.
Recruitment for the Class of 2031 is now in full swing, as prospective students and families begin to imagine what their own years and stories at De Sales might look like. At the same time, our seniors are beginning to imagine where life might take them as their time in high school draws to a close.
In September alone, our seniors have met with representatives from colleges and universities across Illinois and the Midwest, and recently attended the Infinite Scholars College and Scholarship Fair, where they explored dozens of higher-education, trade and career opportunities.
And I must say— there is something meaningful, something poetic about watching those moments unfold alongside one another: the prospective student wondering what it might feel like to walk these halls each morning, and the senior who has walked them for four years, wondering where the next path will lead.
So—-as we move further into fall, Fitzgerald’s words feel particularly appropriate.
Life does have a way of starting again, although rarely by asking us to forget what came before. If anything—it is often what came before that equips us with some of life’s most valuable lessons:
Whatever season of life we find ourselves in, there is always another point to play, another path to follow, and another beginning waiting somewhere ahead.
Steve
Stephen Sanchez
Director of Community and Alumni Relations
St. Francis de Sales High School
