Since I wrote about Keith Carey here on the blog September 6th, many of you have watched a Sports Illustrated video about the 1997 graduate who now coaches football in a tough area of south Austin. His story was featured in SI’s Underdog Series, and he’s up against 9 other schools in an online vote for Underdog School of the Year.
Voting has been going well (Keith’s Reagan High School is currently in 3rd place), but he says he even more proud of something else – the transformation taking place in the hearts and minds of the boys.
They’ve won two games since the film was made in August – an accomplishment considered unthinkable for the school long past its prime. Alumni from the 70’s and 80’s – Reagan’s golden days – have come back to mentor the boys and cheer them on, and folks from the neighborhood are coming out to watch the boys play.
Keith’s family couldn’t be more proud. Dad, Leonard, is a former LHHS coach and a member of the LH football Hall of Fame. Mom, Cindy, and aunt, Sue Stuller, are LH area teachers.
You can watch the video here and vote here. If Keith’s school wins, his school will receive a $25,000 grant and a trip to New York City to attend the annual Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award event. Voting ends Nov. 15, 2012.