I want to say thank you to everyone who had an opportunity to come and honor our athletes in volleyball and football at the banquet this past Monday.

I appreciate Sherry Gillen and the varsity cheerleaders for being at the banquet for support. As I said at the banquet, the cheerleaders, Flames and band members don’t get thanked enough for their support at football and volleyball games. We in the athletic department truly appreciate all these groups, and thank you for all you did this year.

It was so nice to be able to host the banquet in our new high school cafeteria, where we have plenty of space. The great meal was provided by our Food Services department, and it was delicious. The cafeteria was decorated by the moms of the volleyball and football players, which made the atmosphere wonderful.

Jay Ritz and Greg Porter produced the highlight DVDs for both teams. Usually, the videos are the highlight of the night.

Cathy Walker and Jan Brister were instrumental in organizing the banquet and producing the certificates that were awarded to the athletes, trainers and support staff.

Many times, people don’t like to attend banquets because of the length of the program. Our Volleyball/Football Banquet ran smoothly with good things expressed about our kids. I wished we could award a plaque to every athlete, but this will never be the case. We have great kids who deserve to be recognized. The award winners were very deserving and chosen with sincerity.

I want to especially thank the spouses of the coaching staff for allowing us to be away from our own families and be a part of helping raise our other children, the athletes of Lampasas High School.

The moms and dads of our athletes are thanked from the bottom of our hearts for allowing us to be a part of your child’s life. We all know we will disagree sometimes as parents and coaches, but we agree that as coaches and parents we love all our kids. Once again, thank you for supporting our programs.

Joey McQueen is the Lampasas High School athletic director and the Badgers’ head football coach.