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A Batavia coach's letter to his state champion team

Editor's note: Dennis Piron is head coach of the Batavia High School football team. He recently led the Bulldogs to a second state championship in four years. In a letter to the team he talks about the source of their success and what it means to be a champion.

“The journey, not the arrival, matters.”

­— T.S. Eliot

• • •

There are many themes or ideas that come to my mind when I think about the 2017 Batavia Bulldog football team. The words or concepts that seem to come to mind most are Courage, Family, Dream and Love. All of those concepts were on display for all to see throughout your amazing season — a season that culminated in a remarkable team achievement: Class 7A State Champions!

Courage: It is not easy to set goals that are high or demand excellence — and to be willing to risk it all by stating those goals out loud.

“Get the Star Back” was a stated goal from Day 1 of the offseason and you worked like dogs at that goal, never afraid to speak it. You began to speak (maybe with a whisper at first) about a second goal, which was even loftier: State.

Again, you were not fearful of what others might think. Your willingness to lay it out for all to see is rare in this day and is required to achieve greatness. Fear of failure was not your driving force; rather the achievement of excellence and working to get there is all that mattered to you.

Family: You and your families lifted each other up. Through heartache and sorrow or achievement and celebration you were there for each other. Not just this season but in many seasons past.

Without that support, special bonds and relationships cannot grow and become authentic. In difficult situations your teammates and their families cannot move forward.

I witnessed such beauty and kindness in this past year demonstrated by so many within our team and saw how everyone cared for each other — as one BIG extended family. There is something special about this group and this place in which we all live.

This brotherhood was real and added strength to all your efforts and carried everyone along. You are — and were — there for each other. There is nothing quite as powerful as one community supporting all of us.

Dream: When the inception of the dream developed is uncertain, but many thought eighth grade or even earlier you saw the sea of red and gold and wanted to be part of it, to take action to achieve it and to dedicate yourselves to it.

Sacrifice is required to make dreams real, and that you did by prioritizing all the stuff that is required to be excellent at something. There are no short cuts or easy road. Having a dream is easy, but working hard at the actions that those dreams require is rare.

Together you did it and led so many to a special place. The entire school and town saw and shared in your vision and desire to see your dream become a reality and they will forever be changed by what they witnessed this season and Thanksgiving weekend.

Love: I know you often heard your coaches talk about this word and we do it with much thought.

Having done this coaching thing for almost three decades of my life, I can promise you that no success worth having comes without passion and love.

To achieve great success you must love what you do, those you are with and the culture you are part of. We could see this in your team — you and your friends cared about what you were doing and each other. Truly loving what you do and who you are with is my wish for you throughout your entire lives, for your majors and careers and lives wherever they may take you.

The best part of this whole season are the hundreds of shared experiences — funny, sad, exhilarating, amazing, difficult, hilarious, private and public — that make a team close, that turn friends into family and turn teammates into brothers.

Thank you, Class of 2018, for making this team a family and loving it enough that every game and week became a special gift.

The journey was amazing, the memories truly unforgettable!

  Head coach Dennis Piron keeps his eyes on the action during practice for the Batavia High School Bulldogs. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
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