HELLO TO THE WEST! (2021-03-15)

As the newly-appointed Managing Editor of Northern Tier West Sports Report, a website dedicated to the coverage of athletics and athletes in Tioga County, Pa, I wanted to take an opportunity to introduce myself to the good people of the “West”.

While I am not a native of your county, having grown up in nearby Canton, I do have a long history with, a lot of friends in, and a lot of time spent in the area.ʉ۬
I will admit that as a youngster in Canton, traveling over to the West for games seemed like they should be overnight trips! It always seemed SO far! And logically, to a 10 or 11-year old at least, Mansfield, Williamson and Wellsboro got lumped in with Cowanesque Valley. Even Liberty, which is almost as close to us as our rival Troy is, seemed like a hike.

I grew up literally 300 yards from the Bradford / Tioga County line, but if you’d have asked me as a child how long it took to get to a game in Mansfield, I’d have said an hour-and-a-half to two hours. Everything seemed farther away than it actually was.

One of my first sports memories ever is of traveling to Blossburg to play youth football at good ole Island Park. I played and later coached a lot of games at that field. Seems like that first one was 40 years ago. Oh wait ... it was!

Since then, I can’t even begin to count the trips I’ve made up over Bloss Mountain or out Route 6 to play ball games in and beyond Tioga County.

I was on some very, very good football teams in high school, and never lost to a team from the West. If it makes anyone feel any better, I was also on some very, VERY bad basketball teams in high school, and never won a game against a Tioga County team. So we’re even!

During my time at college in Clarion, Pa, I had little connection to anything “back home” sports-wise. Except, I remember seeing one season that my dear old Warriors had lost a football game to North Penn. It’s not being disrespectful, I don’t think, to say I was shocked and disappointed. That just didn’t happen! Little did I know then that it would become a fairly common occurrence once Coach Dickinson got started.

Then I came home, started having kids, and I swear I’ve spent more time in the West than I have at home in Bradford County.

One of my favorite experiences involving the West, that my son and I got to share, was the time that he spent playing on a travel baseball team in Mansfield. I don’t remember the Junior Mounties winning a bunch of tournaments, or even a lot of games, but it was truly fun. The kids he played with and the guys I coached with were all great.

I’ll never forget after the first practice, the coaches were standing around jawing as one of the kids walked up to me and the other coaches, shook each of our hands and said, “Thanks for spending your time helping me today”. I was dumbstruck. The Mansfield guys, not nearly as shocked as I was that a 12-year old had done that, told me, “That’s Sam. Great family from Liberty. Does it after every practice”. It honestly still amazes me to this day.

My coaching career is full of some very fond, and some not-so-fond memories ... or losses ... in Tioga County. I won’t bore you with all of them just yet, but maybe just a few.

There was the time that my varsity basketball team was up by 25 points in a game at Mansfield High School, which, at the time, was as big of a surprise to me as anyone there. I then proceeded to watch a young man, who has come to be known in my household simply as “that dang Hillson kid”, explode in the second half and put on one of THE most incredible performances I’ve ever seen on a basketball court. It hurts a little just typing about it … as he finished with 49 points and beat us.

I actually got my first-ever win as a varsity basketball coach against Liberty. Then, a few games later, got my third and last win of the season against them. Coach Litzleman had not yet began building the incredible program he has there now. Thankfully.

My team was able to play in, and win, one of the last Christmas tournaments held at North Penn, in “The Pit”. That thing ran forever, and we played in it for as long as I can remember. But this was only the third time Canton had won it.

I could get on a roll here. The “West” memories are starting to flood in! I’ll try to summarize just a few more …

My kids attended dozens of sports camps and summer league games at MU. Baseball, softball, basketball … they were always very well-organized, well-attended and enjoyable.

I, myself, spent nearly a year traveling back-and-forth to Mansfield to complete my Act 120 Police Officer Training. Thanks to that time leading to my career as a Police Officer, I then got to field all of my players’ parents’ calls when they got pulled over for speeding while coming home from games in Cowanesque!

My older brother Ryan taught in Williamson for a time, and coached wrestling there, football at CV and even track & field for a season or two. I became a de facto fan of those programs, and the people he was friends with became my friends. A lot of great people I hope to catch up with while I’m running around over here covering games.

I have almost nothing but GREAT memories of watching my son play sprint football for Mansfield University. What a show those kids and coaches, one of which was my brother, put on. They were so fun to watch. Holding their own against storied college programs and doing it with a nice mix of local kids playing big roles.

While our mission for this site is to provide the MOST extensive and accessible coverage of high school and youth sports in Tioga County, and to promote the student athletes in all five schools so that they may receive the exposure that can lead to future opportunities at the collegiate level, I am a huge proponent of continuing that coverage when they reach that level.ʉ۬
I am constantly scouring every resource that I can to find out where our Tioga County kids are playing in college, and I intend to keep the people of the West up-to-date on how they’re doing. I encourage anyone to feel free to drop me an email if you know of an athlete that is playing at the next level.

In closing out this introduction, I’ll leave you with this - I have played a lot of sports. I have coached a lot of sports. My kids have played a lot of sports. But, I am admittedly new to the “media” side of sports. I sometimes observe a game as a parent, and other times from the players’ perspectives. I struggle VERY hard to not only observe as “coach”, but I will sometimes fail at that. However, my goal is right in-line with our site’s mission. Our local kids deserve more recognition and coverage for their efforts, and it needs to be more accessible. Now, more than ever.

With the assistance of the community, the schools, the coaches and the parents, I promise they will get it.

Feel free to stop and say “Hi” when you see me at your games. I love to talk about any and all sports, old games, you name it.

EXCEPT that one game … dang Hillson kid!