Hello Players and Parents of Rangers Nation,
We flew to Fremont, California for Clerc Classic XXI. The annual tournament has been suspended for the last three years due to a pandemic with Covid-19. The tournament was held at California School for the Deaf, Fremont.
The first day of the trip to California on Wednesday, January 11th at 9:10am has been delayed for three hours due to power outages with the FAA. Majority of us are laying, chatting, sleeping, on the floor, or walking around inside the terminal waiting for our next flight.
We are seeded #8 out of 8 teams. Our first game on Thursday at 10am against #1 seeded Maryland School for the Deaf. We gave Maryland a hard time in the first quarter. We were down by 10-1. The game went away from us. We lost the game 57-19. We moved to the consolation bracket to play against Alabama School for the Deaf.
Friday, We played against #4 seeded Alabama at 1pm. The game was well played between both teams. We were down by three at halftime. They outscored us in the second half. We lost the game 49-34. We moved to the 7th/8th bracket to play against Florida School for the Deaf.
Saturday, We played against #7 Florida School for the Deaf at 9:30am. The score went pendulum-alike between us. They took the lead then we took the lead back-forth. They won the game in the fourth quarter by taking advantage of our fouls and converted 13 out of 15 free throws. We attempted a three point shot to tie the game 42-39...we as a team did not make the three point basket. We placed eighth place.
The players had a blast time at Clerc Classic XXI. They met their old friends and made new friends. The social nights were held nightly from Thursday to Saturday. They chatted, played ping pong, pool table, foosball, and danced on the other side of the building with loud music and lights with a disco ball. Pizzas and cakes were provided on Saturday night before all of us departed to our home where our proud parents and the precious supporters of Rangers awaited for us.
A message to the community of Rangers: Bless your heart for being there for our players. We would not be where we are right now without your support, encouragement, and being the greatest fans. We are going into a new path where no Rangers has gone before.
Al Reins