Hanks Softball Team Leads Effort to Help Houston Area Softball Teams

The Hanks High School softball team, along with Coach Shelly Prather, extended a helping hand to softball players over 750 miles away.

The team gathered and donated softball equipment for softball teams who lost everything during Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area.

Coach Prather responded to an email that was sent to all Texas softball coaches from Houston Coach Billy Hicks. He was seeking help for teams who lost everything during the recent hurricane.

Coach Prather was the point of contact in El Paso and reached out area coaches in hopes of gathering items such as cleats, sweats, bags, gloves, balls, chalk, etc.  Del Valle, Riverside, Franklin, Jefferson and Montwood high schools assisted the Lady Knights with this task. They gathered all equipment and made an inventory sheet of the donations.

The coach planned to fly to Amarillo, rent a Penske truck and travel east. When Coach Prather responded to his email, Coach Hicks decided to change his plans and start his trip in El Paso.

Coach Hicks was surprised with the donations he received from the El Paso area. The team assisted Hicks with loading the Penske truck on October 17 and he continued his journey across Texas, making stops in Pecos, Monahans, Big Lake, Midland and the Dallas area.

Coach Hicks is a retired teacher/coach/administrator, but is still very active in the world of softball.