{"id":316,"date":"2018-12-31T11:45:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T11:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=316"},"modified":"2018-12-31T11:45:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T11:45:18","slug":"glenn-dromgooles-texas-reads-column-appears-weekly-at-lonestarliterary-com-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=316","title":{"rendered":"Glenn Dromgoole’s Texas Reads column appears weekly at LoneStarLiterary.com"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n

<\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

10.18.15\u00a0\u00a0 A behind-the-scenes look at Texas high school football<\/h1>\n

If you really like high school football, <\/span>let me recommend one of the best books I\u2019ve read on the subject.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/span>Gray Levy,<\/span> a former high school football coach in Nevada, spent five months in 2012 going behind the scenes with 11 successful Texas high school teams and offers rare insights into how and\u00a0 why they consistently win.<\/p>\n

His new book, Big and Bright: Deep in the Heart of Texas High School Football<\/span><\/a><\/span> (Taylor Trade Publishing, $27.95 hardcover), takes an in-depth look at football programs from different size schools in different parts of the state. He details how the coaches and players prepare for their upcoming games and focuses on the importance of administrative and community support.<\/p>\n

The 11 programs profiled are: La Marque (near Galveston), Carthage (East Texas), Port Lavaca (Gulf Coast), Stamford, Abilene High, Throckmorton and Idalou (West Texas), Aledo and Cedar Hill (Metroplex), Round Rock Stony Point (near Austin), and Harlingen (Rio Grande Valley).<\/p>\n

Throckmorton plays six-man football, Stamford and Idalou are smaller division programs, Carthage, Port Lavaca, La Marque and Aledo are mid-level divisions, and Abilene High, Stony Point, Cedar Hill and Harlingen play in what is now 6A.<\/p>\n

Levy said he focused on Texas because \u201cno one does high school football like Texas. I came because I\u2019d become disillusioned with the changing priorities of public education and hoped to restore my faith.\u201d In Texas, he found, \u201chigh schools are still the seat of community pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

After five months, 59 games, and 19,689 miles, Levy said he went back home convinced that Texas \u201chas the best system of public school athletics in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he also found that \u201cTexas is also the perfect example of what not to do when it comes to assessment and accountability. No other state has allowed assessment to overwhelm education like Texas. Teachers and administrators are effectively handcuffed into removing creativity or personal initiative from their curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s exaggerating to say that the excellent condition of the state\u2019s extra-curricular programs saves Texas from having the worst educational system in the country. I saw this in my 11 schools. They do well despite ridiculous state mandates precisely because those communities and schools believed in something beyond test scores.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big and Bright<\/span> adds to a growing collection of very readable books about Texas high school football, most of them focusing on one specific school. The best known is Friday Night Lights,<\/span> but here are some other favorites:<\/p>\n