Reflecting on early troubles leads to greater appreciation
By JUWAN LEE
It ’ s hard to believe I ’ m entering my third season as the sports editor of the Palestine Herald Press .
In the summer of 2019 I embarked on the next chapter of my journalism career by moving from my hometown of Dallas to the land of East Texas in Palestine .
I didn ’ t know what the town would be like , how the community would embrace me or if the task of covering nine different athletic programs would be too much for me .
I arrived in Palestine in mid- July with a few weeks to tackle the Herald Press ’ staple football magazine and a month to get acclimated to all the Anderson County coaches before the fall season started . My nerves ran wild .
Even wilder was when I realized I needed to get all seven football team scores in the paper by midnight after coming from Palestine ’ s season opener against Waco Conally . Admittedly , it wasn ’ t my best performance that opening week .
And I ’ m sure missing the deadline , along with not providing coverage for many of the schools that night left many questioning just how this experiment with the new sports editor would turn out .
I even went home that weekend in a panic as to what exactly I had gotten myself into . But a talk with my then editor , Jeff Gerritt , sparked the confidence I needed to keep pressing on .
Now I would love to say I quickly turned it around and the year was a perfect idea of what I thought being a sports editor meant , but it wasn ’ t . However , it did directly impact how appreciative I am to be in this industry .
Seeing the phone calls from parents , or other immediate family members about their athletes – positive or negative – is a direct indication of how important this job is . And it makes the late nights and early mornings that this job requires so rewarding .
It ’ s about the joy a parent gets when seeing their kid ’ s name in the paper . Or the excitement an athlete feels by seeing his picture on our site .
In putting this season preview magazine together , I was enamored with watching these coaches and players work endlessly to put themselves in the best position to be successful this season .
Whether it ’ s the Palestine Wildcats attempting to reach the playoffs for the third consecutive year , or even the Westwood Panthers trying for their first playoff berth under head coach Richard Bishop , each journey is equally exciting to cover .
Elkhart Elks head coach Luke Goode finally gets a full offseason with his kids after accepting the athletic director job last year before a global pandemic .
Frankston head coach Paul Gould was finally able to lift the Indians into the playoffs last year and is confident they can replicate that success . Grapeland has a new man in Jordan Woods who has built a winning foundation in each of his previous stops .
Cayuga has a head coach in Jacob Magee who finally gets his turn at being a head coach , while the Oakwood Panthers look to continue building under Paul Johnston .
While these storylines bring excitement to writers and fans , I ’ m equally thrilled to be the one responsible for the coverage of these programs .