TAPPS 11-Man Div III State Champions 2019
The growth along San Antonio's IH-10 corridor to Boerne, Kerrville and Comfort has been rapid over the past 10 years. Not only are businesses popping up, and houses being built, but there is one Private School that has followed the same trend of "rapid growth".
Geneva School of Boerne, located right off IH-10 in south Boerne, first opened its doors in Fall of 2007; however, the athletics program did not start until the following school year. The Geneva Eagles joined the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) beginning in 2008 with a 6-man football team comprised of just 7 freshmen and sophomores.
The quick rise Geneva has accomplished has been impressive to watch. Beginning at the 1A level in 2008, the Eagles are now TAPPS 5A and already proving to be a tough contender. Geneva football, who in just recent years switched to 11-man, faced Division 1/6A Central Catholic last Friday night, and went tooth and nail during the game. The Eagles came out 21-0 in the first half, but the Buttons came back to ultimately win the game.
Athletic Director, Eric Boerboom recognizes the jump from 4A to 5A to be a significant step up, but ultimately believes his coaching staff and administration has prepared the athletes for this step forward by scheduling up and mentally preparing them. In his five years as serving as Athletic Director, Boerboom praised his coaches buy-in to the program saying, "they have been emphasizing the value of hard work and the intrinsic joy that comes from that hard work over the temporary joy that comes from coming out on top of a scoreboard." Boerboom is excited for the opportunity to be further challenged and to ultimately meet those challenges.
A genuine unity among staff, coaches, administration and all extra-curricular departments is something Boerboom said stands out about Geneva. "We understand that these student-athletes are not 'our' athletes and that any one program is not 'my' program," he said regarding working together for the success of the students and programs. This philosophy has proven to work very well for the Eagles, as they have earned 30 athletic State Championship titles over the years and numerous Henderson Cup Championships. The Henderson Cup is an award given by TAPPS to the top school in the state for each classification. The Champion is determined by points earned through Athletic, Academic, and Fine Arts categories.
Geneva School of Boerne has earned the Championship Title the following years:
- 2009-10 – 1A
- 2010-11 – 1A
- 2011-12 – 1A
- 2012-13 – 2A
- 2013-14 – 2A
- 2014-15 – 3A
- 2015-16 – 3A
- 2017-18 – 4A
- 2018-19 – 4A
"We develop students as servants, scholars, athletes and artists"- a tag line Geneva has, that Boerboom said made it recognizable, "that when our athletes are also artists and scholars, it produces a more empathetic, diverse and well-rounded student-athlete." Typically, to be successful across all sports in Private schools, the program relies heavily on multi-sport athletes. Boerboom said, "If we did not have multi-sport athletes, we wouldn't have multiple sports!" Students often play 2, 3 sometimes even 4 sports throughout the year at private schools. Geneva Senior, Jackson Young plays Football, Basketball and Track & Field. Young was an All-State Wide Receiver for the Eagles 2019 State Championship team. Likewise, Junior, Katherine Lacy was an All-State athlete for the Lady Eagles' Basketball and State Runner-up Volleyball team last year. The emphasis on multi-sport athletes for the Eagles is what helps make the program successful across the board.
The Eagles may have moved up a classification, but they have high hopes for deep runs in the playoffs this year. The Volleyball team, who finished State Runner-up in TAPPS 4A is returning all of its players for the 2020 season. The team has already beat 4 district opponents- Austin St. Michaels, Austin Brentwood, San Antonio St. Anthony, and San Antonio Providence. The Football team already proved to be competitive after Friday night's game against San Antonio Central Catholic. The Boys Golf team will return all experienced golfers after winning the State title in 2019 (there was no 2020 season). Boerboom said the Girls Basketball and Softball teams look to compete well in their districts and hope to advance to the playoffs.
The first graduating class for Geneva was in 2011 with just 19 students. This quick rise, Boerboom said, can likely be attributed to the proper processes that have been put in place. He said, "We want to teach our athletes how to think and not just what to think." He followed that with a proud statement, "the Geneva community is great in that the parents, admin and staff support what we are doing in athletics and they value what we do as coaches. They see athletics as co-curricular and important to the overall mission of the school." As the school year is off and going, we look forward to following the Eagles as they make their mark in TAPPS 5A.
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TAPPS 4A Volleyball Runner-up
Photo by TAPPS
2019 TAPPS 4A State Runner-up
