Based on the book Mustang Miracle by Humberto G. Garcia, the story will be released soon as a film starring Dennis Quaid and Jay Hernandez.
Since the beginning of time, some people have viewed themselves above others. What they enjoy and view as “normal,” other people can’t enjoy and are excluded. But some of the most inspiring stories of all time involve situations where the excluded rise above and triumph. This is one of those stories. It happened in Del Rio, TX, in the 1950s.
Courtesy Amazon.com
Five Latino teens came to love a game–golf–that they had to watch others play. Felipe Romero, Guadalupe Felan, Gene Vasquez, Joe Trevino, and Mario Lomas were their names. Caddies at the local country club, the five earned much-needed money for their limited resource families. For their effort, they received more than money.
By caddying, the teens watched how others played the game, but they weren’t allowed to play at the country club. So, these young men created a golf course. They scratched out tee boxes and greens, made clubs, and used golf balls discarded at the country club.
Not long after, the local secondary school–San Felipe High–decided to launch a golf team, and the five teens made the team. Making the team was easy; enduring verbal abuse during competition was more difficult. But they persevered … and became champions.
San Felipe High won the 1957 Texas State Championship, and those excluded golfers from a few years earlier finished first, second, and third in the state.
History was made, what is still called The San Felipe Miracle.
Great story of perseverance. This is a good article for people to read in todays world. Especially with all the racial stuff going on. Wonderful article, Matthew Paris!