Miss Dependable

Dependable – trustworthy, reliable: is there a better compliment to bestow upon someone? Is there a better trait to have?
Throughout her career, Strong’s Maranda Parker has been versatile, durable, coachable, resilient, resourceful, relentless and, most of all, reliable.
During the Lady Bulldogs’ championship seasons, Parker’s teammates knew they could rely on her to do her part in tight games. During her freshman season when the team wasn’t championship caliber, Parker’s teammates expected her to do more than her fair share, which she did.
On the court, there hasn’t been a more dependable player over the past four years. Parker doesn’t remove the “dependable” label when the game is over.
This summer the News-Times was desperately looking for someone to help us with our football coverage. We simply didn’t have enough reporters to go around. I sent Kev Moye’ on a mission to find someone to cover Strong football. He went to administrator Saul Lusk, who said, “I think I know the perfect person to ask.”
Of course, Maranda Parker said she’d do it, even though she didn’t know a lot about football. I told her what we needed for each game and, every Friday night, she was the first to call in her results. It took a game or two for her to figure out what a forward pass was and how to calculate the yards but she got it down and did much better than I ever thought she would.
The only problem she had during the season was homecoming, when she was on the court and was wearing a new gown to the game. She called, hoping we didn’t need her to go on the field in the mud to talk to the coach after the game.
I told her we did need her to work and, though she probably called me all sorts of names when she got off the phone, that Friday night she called in results and provided us with quotes, stats and highlights, just like she had promised.
Did I mention that I knew she would? I knew she didn’t want to but I knew she would do it. I believe trustworthy is the word.
Once basketball season was about to start, I set up team photos for every school. The day before I was scheduled to shoot the Lady Bulldogs, Coach Koonce got sick. Maranda called me that night and asked if the photographer was still coming the next day.
When I told her it would be difficult to reschedule, she promised to get to school early, get the key to the gym, pick out the uniforms, wash them and hand them out to the team before we got there.
She did it, too.
During the junior county tournament, which Strong hosted, I watched Maranda in all her glory. She was in the hallway keeping a shot chart for Coach Koonce during Strong’s game. While doing this, the boys’ basketball coach told her to make sure the referees had something to drink at halftime. Coach Gathright told her to make sure the trophies were ready to be handed out after the game. One of Strong’s junior boys told her his team’s run-out music was missing.
I watched her take care of everyone’s request. Not one time was there a sigh of exasperation or a roll of the eyes.
I’ve been amazed at this young lady this year. When a teammate is missing socks, they go to Maranda. When a seventh grader needs a band-aid, they go to Maranda. When the senior boys need someone to keep the book, Maranda does it. When Coach Koonce needed someone to participate in the state cross country meet, he took Maranda.
In her four-year career, Maranda Parker has done a lot of things on the court to help the Lady Bulldogs. She’s one of the better athletes to come through that school.
I don’t know if she’s the best. I do know one thing, there has never been a young lady more dependable. I don’t think there’s a better trait to have.