Football to help Santa Fe community heal
As Santa Fe’s grieving process continues, team can help community heal
A Santa Fe High School football player runs out of the locker room before the first practice of the year Monday. Two of the team’s players were killed in May during a school shooting that claimed the lives of 10 people. The start of football season offers another step in the healing process.
SANTA FE — Before they took the field for their first practice of the season, players from Santa Fe placed decals on their white helmets.
The stickers had two sets of initials: “CS” and “RG.”
Chris Stone.
Riley Garcia.
Both had been teammates, but neither was there Monday morning at 7.
Both were killed in the shooting at the high school on May 18.
“We are going to honor them,” coach Mark Kanipes told his team as they pressed the stickers on their helmets. “When you’re hot, when you’re tired, when you feel like giving up, you think of them. We’d love for them to be here. We are going to work hard for them this season.”
Kanipes has coached for decades. He has been Santa Fe’s head coach since 2014. Nothing he’s done could prepare him for what happened just before school ended almost three months ago.
Ten people — eight students and two teachers — were killed in the school shooting. Thirteen others were injured.
The community is working on recovery, but it’s a slow process.
“There isn’t really a guideline for this type of thing,” Kanipes said. “It’s going to take awhile.”
One thing he did know as he and his staff prepped for practice is that the football team can help the community heal.
“Sports can do that,” Kanipes said. “That’s one way we can help.”
Santa Fe is a small town with about
13,000 residents. Like so many others like it, the community rallies behind its football team.
The stadium fills up on Friday nights. This season, those nights are going to mean more.
“I think it will start feeling normal again,” senior linebacker Colton Scott said. “To be at the games like always — maybe that will help us all get back on track.”
It helped the players Monday morning. They didn’t go back to school after the shooting. Several trickled in over the summer to work out in the weight room.
Everything still felt heavy.
Constant reminders
“Santa Fe Strong” signs still line the sides of Highway 6 through the town. The city hall marquee sign has a hotline number listed for anyone who still needs to talk.
Green and gold ribbons are still tied around trees, the colors starting to fade slightly.
“It’s been tough,” Scott said. “It’s everywhere you go. But today when I saw the whole team and we all got on the field, I was only thinking about football.
“And it was really great to be able to do that.”
His teammates agreed. Senior quarterback Nathan Kruger said that while the summer was filled of talk about the shooting, Monday was filled with talk about the season.
“We are going to make the playoffs this year,” he said with a smile. “We can be pretty good. It’s going to be a good year.”
The players won’t be the only ones attracted to the distraction football can bring the small town in Texas. Fans will pour in to games — the first is Aug. 31 against Dobie. They’ll wear their “Santa Fe Strong” shirts. They’ll pray together before the game, likely take a moment of silence. It will be emotional. It will also be healing. “We know that this community can come together at games and cheer for the team and have something to be happy about,” Kanipes said.
He also knows football can distract from everything else that came along with the shooting.
The politics and the fingerpointing from outsiders.
The new policies in place at the school. Changes in the buildings, hallways and classrooms.
The constant stream of chatter and opinions thrown around in the wake of a national tragedy.
“When we get out here and everyone is in their helmets, nothing else matters,” Kanipes said. “We are all the same. We are all on the same side and working toward one goal.
“This is the real world, not all the other stuff.”
The reach the football team will have this season will go beyond the 20 or so square miles the Santa Fe area covers.
“We’ve had so many people reach out and show support,” Kanipes said. “People from all over the country. It’s been really nice to feel how much people care.”
He even got a call from someone from Parkland, Fla., about organizing a football game between Stoneman Douglas High School, where another mass shooting took place, and Santa Fe.
It’s not something Kanipes could commit to, but he thought the idea was interesting. The distraction of the game could be good for everyone involved.
He’s knows normalcy is going to take awhile. The Santa Fe football program lost two young men. Several others are permanently scarred. They were in classrooms where people were shot.
“They are struggling,” Kanipes said. “It’s a tough situation. Nothing can really prepare you.”
‘Honor those young men’
So he and his coaching staff are going to focus on what they can control. They can be supportive. They can provide an atmosphere with structure and a lot of fun.
They can also give their players an outlet and a purpose.
“Think of (Chris) Stone and Riley (Garcia),” Kanipes told his team. “Life is short. Take care of the people around you, the people you love. Honor those young men. That’s what we can do.”