Fall sports come to an end, but the memories remain
Published on November 9, 2021 at 2:05pm EST | Author: Chad Koenen
0Henning Happenings
Chad Koenen
Last week’s sub section championship game between Henning and Breckenridge seems like an eternity ago. At the time of this publication, it was just five days. The Section 6A semi-final game between Otter Tail Central and Breckenridge seems like it was a distant memory—the game was played just one week earlier.
While the outcome may not have been Henning and OTC had wanted, both teams have plenty to be proud of this year. For instance, Thursday’s sub section semi-finals game brought us back to the time before the COVID-19 pandemic. The stands were packed, the crowd was cheering and two teams played point for point for the right to go to the section finals.
Here’s what stuck out to me the most about the playoff game, even though Henning School has half the enrollment of Breckenridge and the population of our town is just 800 people, instead of 3,500, we had a comparative amount of fans cheering on the Hornets throughout the game (our school district does encompass a wide area that includes several other communities as well).
Sports are a big part of our community and it was on full display on Thursday night. Not only that, but Breckenridge’s Minnesota State High School enrollment is currently 199 students, ours is just 93. Yet, for over two hours on Thursday night, you would have never guessed that the two schools and communities were so different in size as our Hornets came just a few points away from defeating the much larger Breckenridge team.
What I found most amusing, as a Wheaton High School alum, was how the Wheaton student section was creating makeshift signs to cheer on Henning against Breckenridge. It was rather amusing to watch and made a person feel good to see other schools that we have no connection with rallying behind another small school.
I even had a parent of a former classmate of mine comment about how well Henning played together as a team and were fun to watch on the court. Similar things were said about our football team this fall about playing together as a team and being good ambassadors for our community.
While winning is important, being a good representative of our community is also important. That goes for the fans as well who turned out in full force the past two weeks to watch our small school put on a show against several much larger opponents.