David & Goliath

A s many readers may remember, we were hopeful, but a bit skeptical, about the prospects for this season's Tigers team.

After losing veteran head coach Rick Hamilton and seasoned assistant coach Bart Baxter, who guided the first-year team to a magical winning season, we were wondering how WP would top that performance.

We weren't sure how the new head coach, Precott High School teacher Mark Grimm, who had general coaching experience but not in soccer, and his assistant Jay Potts would do with the young team.

There were some questions about the maintenance of the field at Prescott, making it harder for the players to practice on a proper surface, at least at the outset of the season.

Fewer players showed up to practice at the very beginning of the season, though the ranks swelled as the season progressed.

And, last year, the first-year Tigers, inexperienced in state playoff competition, fell in the first round to Shoreline Christian in a heartbreaking loss for the previously undefeated team.

But we're happy to report in this edition that they proved us wrong.

The Tigers are state champions in the 1A/2B soccer division thanks to hard-fought victories this weekend over eastern Washington rival St. George of Spokane in the semifinal and Lynnwood's Providence in the title game.

The image that comes to mind when describing the Tigers' remarkable triumph this season -- the image from the final games that sums up the odds they overcame to get to Sumner - was junior Aldair Escalante playing alongside what must have been the tallest player on the St. George team.

David and Goliath.

In that semifinal game against a very strong team that beat the Tigers just two weeks before in a seeding face-off, WP fell behind 1-0 in the second half. The score clearly took the wind out of the Tigers' sails emotionally.

But just like Escalante going up for headers alongside the giant from Spokane time and again, the Tigers never gave up. They pressed on, first prompting a penalty kick resulting in a goal, then a strike that won them the game.

It was no different in the final, when Providence brought its relentless pressure on WP while the players from Vista Hermosa kept their composure and discipline to find a crack in their opponent's defense and barrel through for a strike, using superior speed and dribbling talent.

But it took more than training, teamwork and physical stamina for each of the Tigers to get to Sumner. For these sons and daughters of orchard workers, it took a commitment to work just as hard in school and get grades good enough to be on the team.

That's where Grimm took full advantage of his position as a teacher, helping his Tigers stay on task academically as well as athletically, thus increasing their chances of graduating and possibly going further in life as a result.

The entire season, as the team traveled throughout the state, hosts and observers remarked to Grimm on the personal integrity of his team's players.

In an interview with the Times after the final, Providence head coach Nathan Morris made a point of mentioning how well he thought the Tigers represented their sport, how "clean" they played and how sportsmanlike they were.

Those kinds of comments aren't the result of wishful thinking. They take a successful upbringing, players' daily personal commitment, the backbone of a supportive sports combine, the nurturing of a strong community and the kind of coaching that brings together discipline on the field with discipline in the classroom.

The Times was honored to follow the WP Tigers on their way to the state playoffs this year and honored to report on their historic clenching of the state title.

Congratulations, Tigers. You make your communities proud.