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46 | February 7, 2019 | The tinley junction sports tinleyjunction.com Mattix family dances and hoops into Andrew fans’ hearts JEFF VORVA, Sports Editor Julie Mattix said she is “blessed.” On some Friday nights, when there are Andrew basketball games being played, she is a dance mom, a basketball mom and a coach all rolled into one. She has a son, senior Zach Mattix, who is a starter on the basketball team. She has another son, sophomore Nathan Mattix, on the dance team. And she has dozens of girls who are like daughters to her who join Nathan at halftime to entertain the crowd. She is the coach of that squad. When the dance team isn’t performing at halftime, it can be found battling at a state, local or national level…usually at a high level. The competitive dance team finished 10th in the state in Class 3A in the Illinois High School Association finals on Jan. 26 in Bloomington and followed it up with a 12th-place finish in the National Dance Team Championship in Orlando the following weekend. “It’s unusual but it’s also kind of cool,” she said of her sons’ respective choices of sports. “It’s a unique dynamic. I feel blessed.” Julie grew up in a dance environment as her mother, Judy Metz, ran the Miss Judy Dance Studio in Oak Forest. At one time, Miss Judy travelled the country dancing. She passed plenty of wisdom down. Julie attended Andrew and put her dancing on hold to become a cheerleader. She attended Northern Illinois University, got a job in the Plainfield district and met her future husband, Blake Mattix, who played basketball and football in high school and was a fullback at Illinois Wesleyan University. Julie was able to secure a teaching job at her alma mater and 20 years ago started coaching the Andrew dancers. Meanwhile, her two boys were interested in sports and tried several options. “They are both very athletic but they have their own wheelhouse,” Julie said. “Zach played a little bit of baseball when he was younger but he was always playing basketball. That was his passion. Dance was always Nathan’s passion.” “I played soccer, basketball and baseball,” Nathan said. “I would always come back to dancing. It was just different. It was more enjoyable.” Zach can’t watch his brother during halftime because he is in the locker room with the rest of his teammates listening to coach Dave Wilson’s talks. But he makes sure he is there when the dance team is in a competition. The older brother said he never tried dancing but has watched enough of it to admire it. “I see it every day – I can’t even fathom how hard they work and how much they focus,” Zach said. “It’s awesome – it’s something I grew up with and watching him is a really cool experience,” Nathan is the only male member of the dance squad and that could lead some wiseguys to make cracks. But Nathan said he is having fun on this team and doesn’t hear any disparaging remarks. “People are more appreciative,” Nathan said. “They recognize what we do is hard.’’ “In general, Andrew is very good about that,” Julie said. “The students are supportive of all the different interests that other people do. That’s the good thing about Andrew students.’’ Nathan said he doesn’t find it awkward to be the only male on the squad. The only wrinkle is obviously when it’s time to put the costumes on. “When we’re changing for the dance, I have to wait outside,” Nathan said. “Other than that, we all get along. We’re really close.’’ “He’s like the little brother,” Julie said. “They all have a brother/ sister relationship.’’ Julie is in a nice position of teaching her son and many girls the art of dancing just like Miss Judy did for her. “It’s neat to be able to share those experiences with the kids,” Julie said. Zach Mattix is one of the top players on Andrew’s boys basketball team. PHOTOS BY JEFF VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA Sophomore Nathan Mattix is a member of the Andrew dance team, which finished 10th in the state in Class 3A in January and 12th in a national meet in Orlando on Feb. 3.
tinleyjunction.com sports the tinley junction | February 7, 2019 | 47 fastbreak THURSDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK The waiting is indeed the hardest part JEFF VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA 1ST AND 3 GIRLS BASKETBALL REGIONALS START NEXT WEEK. SOME FACTS: 1. Andrew in 2018 The T-Bolts (ABOVE) beat Eisenhoweer, 63-27 but werebeaten 51-33 by Marian Catholic in the regional semifinals. 2. Tinley Park in 2018 The Titans dropped a 40-33 decision to Rich Central, which was a one-point improvement from a 40-32 loss to Rich East the year before. 3. Last postseason Titan win <strong>TP</strong>HS last won a postseason game on Feb. 16, 2015, when the Titans beat Rich Central in the first round of regional play. Jeff Vorva j.vorva@22ndcm.com You want the definition of cruel and unusual punishment? Go to the Illinois High School Association state competitive dance or cheerleading competition finals. You will find plenty of cruel and unusual punishment there. It’s overflowing. The setup is similar for both events, but I’m going to use the dance meet that took place on Jan. 25-26 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington as an example. There were 30 teams in each class for the preliminaries. The 30 teams would each perform their routines and a bunch of judges in the back would grade the performances. But the scores are not announced during the competition. When they are done, teams are immediately hustled into a “playback room” where they can watch their performance on a big TV and if the walls could talk, they could tell you they heard a lot of laughing, crying, squealing and yelling. After a couple of hours of this, organizers bring all 30 teams to the floor of the arena, where for about 10 or 15 minutes a bunch of stressed-out high school girls and handful of stressed out high school boys and their coaches wait to find out which 12 teams make it to the finals the next day. During the 10 or 15 minutes, the loudspeakers blare dance music. You would think that the last thing a bunch off stressed-out high school dancers would want to do is dance. But when “Cotton-Eye Joe” comes on, it’s a free-for-all. Whether they come from Tinley Park, Eureka or Effingham, these dancers let loose. So when the yee-hahing is over and it’s time to get down to business, everybody sits down on the arena floor and waits for the almighty 12 to be announced. Here is where the punishment comes in. No scores are announced. Just the 12 teams. And they let you know ahead of time, these are in no particular order. Not by performance. Not by alphabet. Just a random listing of names. For some in the big joint, they can hear the names of the advancing schools called out fine. Some, myself included, were in a bad spot in the arena and the names of the schools sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Andrew fans agonize seconds before the T-Bolt dance team is the final team announced that it made it to the Class 3A final 12 after the Jan. 25 preliminaries in Bloomington. JEFF VORVA/22NDCENTURY MEDIA Waaa waa waa times 12. OK, in antagonistic fashion, they slowly read the names of the qualifying schools. Almost every team is sitting in a circle with athletes holding hands and scrunched up looks on their faces. A few prayers are said during this time. After each team is called, it stands and the athletes go ballistic for a little while. That part is kind of cool. Now we get to the point when nine teams have been called. The tension is mounting. The hands of the other teams are held tighter. The looks on their faces are even scrunchier (yeah, I knew that word wouldn’t pass spell check, but so be it). A few more prayers are being said. Now, at this point, there are 21 teams hoping to make one of the final three slots. And since these names are randomly being called, everyone thinks they still have a chance. If you had a good routine, you could be in. Even if you didn’t have your best performance, hey, you still have a shot, right? Two more names are called. Two more squads stand up and go ballistic. Then, there is the final team. By the way, did I tell you that during this torture in Class 3A that Andrew, which had finished fifth in the state in 2018, had not been called yet? The T-Bolts had a 1-in-19 chance to be called and an 18-out-of-19 shot to be heartbroken. The players were tense. The parents in the stands were nervous. Some of the students in the front row rested their heads on the barrier separating the stands from the arena floor. I never for sure heard what Charlie Brown’s teacher had said, but after a “Waa waa waa,” the Andrew squad went ballistic. Eighteen other teams did not. In Class 1A, Tinley Park High School went through the same torment and wasn’t one of the 12 teams called and they made the snowy trek home bummed out. And that, my friends, is an example of cruel and unusual punishment for everyone involved. Listen Up “I can’t even fathom how hard they work and how much they focus.” Zach Mattix — Andrew senior basketball player on the demands of the T-Bolt competitive dance team, which his mother, Julie, coaches and his brother, Nathan, dances for WHAT 2 WATCH Individual wrestling, TBA, Friday Feb. 8 and Sat. Feb. 9 • The dream of making it to Champaign gets closer for Andrew at the Joliet Central Class 3A Sectional and for Tinley Park at the Class 2A De La Salle Sectional. Index 41 - Sports roundup 40 - Athlete of the Week Compiled by Sports Editor Jeff Vorva/J.VORVA@22ndcm,com
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