Welcome to the Valley's hunting lodge

EDINBURG — Welcome to the Region One Hunting Lodge.

One by one, the hunters — dressed as Rio Grande Valley football coaches for this occasion — began to fill the clubhouse Friday morning in Edinburg, waiting anxiously for the University Interscholastic League’s biennial district realignment to be unveiled.

Women, unless they work here, were nowhere to be seen.

This was a room of guys. Kind of like gym, minus the sweat, weights and eye candy.

By 8:45 a.m. the room at the ol’ hunting lodge on the corner of Jackson and Schunior was nearly packed, with each of the hunters dressed in his club’s clothing and chatting amongst his friends about their past season and what their outlook was for the 2008-09 season. Over cups of coffee they discussed their families, their new trucks and the ever-changing hunter carousel in the Valley.

“You talk a little about everything,” said longtime Valley hunter Tom Chavez, who is now representing the Brownsville Hanna lodge. “It’s all about the realignment, but you hear your share of war stories. I’m sure there were more than a few told today.”

Then the 9 o’clock hour hit, and all the chattering turned to silence.

The hunters sat speechless, carefully listening to the regional coordinator to find out their new district alignments for the next two years. One by one, the packets were handed out to the hunters. And second by second, the busy chattering returned to the room as hunters began to scramble to the various tables in the lodge to secure the all-important non-district schedules for their clubs.

“I had two scenarios lined up,” San Benito hunter Mario Peña said. “You never know, but you come prepared.”

There were no real surprises on this biennial meeting of the hunters. The Valley 5A hunters remained in the same bracketing, and the 4A hunters kept an alliance with tradition-rich Mission High. The biggest announcement of the morning was that the Valley’s 3As would form one eight-club district instead of being split into two, as was the case the past two years.

There was even an old-fashioned hunting prank during the morning, when Santa Maria was announced as making the jump to the 2A clubs. Later in the day the Cougars found out it was a noogie-gone-wrong and safely returned to their home amongst the A clubs.

And then there were the hunters who like surprises and walked away disappointed from the lack of fireworks.

“I wanted a curveball,” said Rio Grande City hunter Jesus Lozano, who made his second appearance at the biennial meeting. “It makes it more fun. It keeps you on your feet. We didn’t get one this year, but I was ready for one if it happened.”

So with their new alignments and scheduling in the books, the hunters slowly began to say goodbye to their buddies and leave the Region One Hunting Lodge. But as always, they will return in two years for another eventful gathering at the ol’ hunting lodge.

Wade Baker is Sports Editor of The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4450.