The legendary George Ranch vs Foster rivalry. Each year, no matter the sporting event, you could count on the place being packed when these two teams were going to play each other. More importantly, however, though we were rivals on the court/field, the entire district of LCISD has always been separate schools that joined together to form one community of Richmond/Rosenberg, a huge support system of schools. The bond, however, has finally been broken.

Growing up, I always loved a sense of community. I loved going to the parade and seeing the whole city come together. I loved watching all of the high school bands play one after another. Coming into high school and playing two sports (volleyball and softball), I loved the thrill of getting to play the familiar faces of teams that were from the same community as me. There was always someone on our team who knew someone from Terry, Lamar, or Foster because of the proximity of the schools. We always had relatives, friends, or family friends on the opposite side. We knew the teams well. We knew their coaches, their strengths and weaknesses, and their players. There was always a feeling of anticipation that they’d have a new play, new move, or new player we weren’t prepared for. Each year the teams would either rise or fall in the district, new players would come, and coaches or seniors would leave. One year Terry would go to state in basketball and the next they wouldn’t make it to playoffs. One year Foster would defeat every team in volleyball and the next year George Ranch would take that title. It was a never ending circle of sports life, and we loved it. We loved always trying to outdo our sister schools. But now, this wonderful, familiar competition has come to an end for the George Ranch Longhorns. We must say goodbye to Foster, Terry, Lamar, Calhoun and Angleton. Now, we leave our district family for an unknown world. The world of 6A District 23.

Many people are asking, who is it that is in our new district? Well, a complete list of our new district rivals is: Alief Elsik, Alief Hastings, Alief Taylor, Clute Brazoswood, Pearland, Pearland Dawson, and us. So we get the Alief schools and the Pearland ones. A whole new world of rivals. Our drives to games will definitely be longer and in new areas we’ve never been. Are we prepared for next year and the coming years? Well, popular opinion believes we will do well against the Alief schools, but we need to worry about Pearland. Will we continue to hold the slogan “We win at the Ranch?” I have confidence that the George Ranch winning spirit will not die, but the Longhorns will continue to work harder, play harder, and overcome any obstacle that comes their way. However, my class of 2016 will not be here to determine that. It’s up to the future generation of Horns to decide if they will continue the legacy, making the glory of the herd live on, and taking the Horns into bigger and better places.