“Wow,” Coppell City Council member Nancy Yingling said, as she entered the meeting room at City Hall on Tuesday.

The room buzzed, occupied with parents, children, city officials, business executives and other Coppell citizens. Few seats were left empty. On one side of the room, a large group of grey-shirted teenage boys drew attention- Coppell Cowboys, the soccer team of Coppell High School.

Having won the state championship at Georgetown in April against Lake Travis High School, the Cowboys were present at the meeting to support an item proposed on the evening’s agenda. Agenda item 6- to  “consider approval of a proclamation naming Tuesday, May 10, 2016 as “Coppell High School Boys’ Soccer Appreciation Day””- was proposed to commemorate the team’s historic victory.

“Did anybody know these guys had a little accomplishment?” Mayor Karen Hunt said before calling the team to the front of the room, where each soccer player said their name and field position to the crowd.

Coppell soccer coach Chad Rakestraw accepted the proclamation from the the mayor, and spoke with pride about his team’s achievements.

“This year these guys were the second undefeated team in the history of our program,” Rakestraw said. “This is an incredible group, of not just players but of men. I’m very, very thankful for all of them, for all the work they put in to put the program where it is at and to get the school and city the recognition they deserve.”

The several individual achievements of the team were commended by the mayor: Brandon Bohn, Scott Simigian, Parker McClure, Alex Haas made the All-State tournament team; Bohn was named ‘most valuable player’; Andrew Grimmer, Wyatt Priest and Nick Taylor won first team All-State recognition and Simigian was bestowed with the ‘honorable mention’ award.

The achievement of the Cowboys is the third boys soccer state championship, the previous victories being won in 2004 and 2013.  

“We’re all extremely proud of your accomplishment,” Mayor Pro Tem Roden said, before moving to approve the item. All council members raised their hands to vote in favor of May 10, 2016, being named ‘Coppell Cowboy Soccer Appreciation Day’.  The soccer players were met with loud applause as they won recognition of an annual date to celebrate their victory and Mayor Hunt was one of the clapping crowd.

“It swells your heart with pride,” Hunt said. “I had two boys who went to that high school and they both played sports, and I know how hard they worked for it. The competition in Texas is pretty rigorous for them to go undefeated and make it all the way to the state championship, it’s pretty exciting and it’s really a wonderful wonderful achievement. They make us proud. They make the whole city proud.”

Mayor Hunt believes it was very important that the community celebrated the ‘Coppell Cowboy Soccer Appreciation Day’, in order to better recognize the team’s immense victory.

“It’s one thing for the parents to tell them ‘great job’; it’s a good thing for their coach to say ‘great job’, but when the whole city can appreciate them and make a big deal, it’s important,” Hunt said. “They need to know that they are appreciated.”