There will be more than bragging rights at stake when the Liberty and Liberty North middle school athletic programs play head-to-head from here on out.
Beginning later this month, the local schools will “Battle for the Paddle” as they begin a new tradition of playing for traveling trophies to help build a friendly rivalry between schools. The trophies are wooden paddles with the name of every sport as well as the Blue Jays and Eagles logo on each.
Each individual paddle will be determined by the winner of the “A-team” head-to-head matchup during the regular-season of each sport. Cross country will be determined at the Ray-Pec Invite, and track will be determined at the Liberty Relays. Winning paddles will be displayed by the winning team at both of their respective middle schools — Discovery and Liberty for the Blue Jays and Heritage and South Valley for the Eagles.
The winner of the most paddles in one school year will receive the “Coach Rebori All-Sports Award” paddle, which has been named in honor of Dave Rebori, long time athletic trainer and physical education teacher at Liberty Junior High School. Rebori taught, coached and was an athletic trainer in the school district from 1979 to 2009 and made a difference in thousands of people’s lives during his 30-year tenure.
Several Liberty-Liberty North contests have already established theme nights for the “pack-the-house” nights. Some of those already on the calendar include:
• October 19 — Liberty vs. Liberty North volleyball game at Heritage Middle School (“80’s Blue Out” theme for Liberty, “Black Out” for Liberty North)
• October 20 — Liberty vs. Liberty North football game at Discovery Middle School/South Valley Middle School (“Pink Out” game for both schools with T-shirts being sold to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation)
• December 17 — Liberty vs. Liberty North wrestling dual at Liberty Middle School
• January 15 — Liberty vs. Liberty North basketball at Liberty High School (“White Out” for Liberty and “Gold Rush” for Liberty North)
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.libertytribune.com/sports/community_sports/article_517ec9a5-5fa5-5101-9acd-1cf1ffd3c502.html