Fourteen players from the Village Cup Champion Team Evans Prairie started the journey three weeks ago as individuals. They signed up for the tournament as individuals, they played two qualifying rounds as individuals, and then waited along the walls of La Hacienda recreation center as individuals, waiting to be drafted onto a Village Cup Team.
One by one, Evans Prairie Captain Randy Dugger called out his picks.
“First pick I take Kenny Reeves.”
Then it was Nick, George, Stanley, Mike, Michael, Robert, Danny, Ron, Jeff, David, Ed, and David. After being selected each one proceeded to Dugger’s table with a smile, introduced themselves to the other players, and took a seat next to their “partners.” They were no longer individuals, they were now “Team Evans Prairie.”
I know the feeling, I have been there.
Having been lucky enough to be on two winning Village Cup teams, Glenview in 2004 and Palmer Legends in 2013, I know what is in store for them.
I am not sure they do yet. I know that they will be a part of 2015 Team Evans Prairie forever. I know they won’t forget this day. From this day on things will begin to happen that will remind them of that. They will be sitting at the square listening to a band when all of a sudden someone will walk up behind them and tap them on the shoulder and say, “Hi partner.”
They will be in an aisle of Publix looking at something on a shelf and get a tap on the shoulder, and a “Hi partner.”
They may be sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office looking at a magazine, when someone walks in, looks in their direction, and with a smile says, “Hi partner.”
And believe me there will be many, many, other places this same thing will happen, and as I do, they will cherish every time it does.
So what do the Players on Team Evans Prairie get for winning the Village Cup? No they don’t get any money, and no they don’t get a big trophy. What they get is a lifetime of friendship.
Congratulations to 2015 Men’s Village Cup Champions “Team Evans Prairie.”
Randy Dugger
Kenny Reeves
Nick Kent
George Bell
Stanley Kita
Mike Horn
Michael Ross
Robert Soldi
Danny Parker
Ron Prisfupski
Jeff Spangler
David Faile
Ed Worcester
David Martin
Ron Clark is a resident of the Villages and writes for Villages-News.com
