By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
A part of Del Rio’s sports history is coming to the big screen, and locals will have a chance to see it early.
“The Long Game,” based on the book “Mustang Miracle” that chronicles the story of the 1957 state golf championship that was won by a group of golfers from the now-defunct San Felipe High School, is set to open nationwide April 12. However, the film is being screened early in venues throughout March including here in Del Rio March 29.
According to a press release from the City of Del Rio, the public is invited to view one of four screenings of the film at Cinemark Movies 8. Two will begin at 12:20 p.m. and the other two will begin at 12:30 p.m. Tickets for the screening can be purchased through Eventbrite.
Following the screening, a community pep rally will be held at San Felipe Memorial Middle School, which served as San Felipe High School before consolidation, that will feature a panel presentation with the cast and crew of the film as well as appearances from several San Felipe ex-students.
According to members of the San Felipe Exes Association, about 400 tickets have been allotted for members of the association. Their names will be on hand at the theater and they will be able to view the film at no additional charge. Several board members were at the San Felipe Exes Memorial Museum Saturday to sign up new members and ensure members had their membership cards.
According to Alonzo Martinez, San Felipe Exes president, about 300 of the spots have already been claimed.
“This movie means everything and that encompasses the people we knew personally,” Martinez said. “This feat that they achieved. We didn’t know about it until the book written by Humberto Garcia came out.”
“Seeing this come to life reminds us of who we are where we came from. San Felipe was established, created and built by our parents and our grandparents and by the people before them. This barrio was predominantly Mexican-American and in those days that meant they didn’t have the means to receive an education. It was up to people like Santos Garza who decided to create our own school district and in 1929 the San Felipe Independent School District was born, but the barrio was here way before then,” Martinez added. “I’ve always felt the culture of our people is more like a tribe. I’ve always said that San Felipe wasn’t just about our own school, but it was our own culture and history. It was settled before Del Rio was incorporated.”
Martinez was a graduate of the 1970 class of San Felipe High. While he didn’t attend school at the same time as the state champion golfers – Lupe Felan, Joe Trevino, Gene Vasquez, Felipe Romero and Mario “Mike” Lomas – he said he was fortunate enough to have Vasquez as a teacher in seventh grade.
Martinez said invitations have been issued to the three living members – Felan, Romero and Lomas – as well as their family members and the family members of the deceased team members and coach J.B. Pena. He said Felan plans to attend along with members of his family and that the rest of the team would be represented as well.
“Mustang Miracle,” written by San Felipe High School graduate Humberto Garcia and published in 2010, tells the story of the 1957 San Felipe High golf team and how they overcame the challenges of poverty and racism to not just play the game they loved but to become the best team in the state by winning the Class A Texas State High School championship by 35 strokes.
Martinez said their story was lost to time, but it wasn’t because people didn’t want to recognize it or chose to forget it, but because those players didn’t speak much about it because they were raised to be humble and not braggarts. It wasn’t until Garcia overheard the golfers speak at a San Felipe Exes golf tournament that he began to work on the book that would catapult their story back into the public consciousness.
“Mustang Miracle” helped reignite interest in the team and even led to its induction into the Latin American International Sports Hall of Fame and the National Hispanic Heritage Hall of Honor. The team was also memorialized in a mural located off South Main Street that highlights some of Del Rio’s sports legends. The mural was painted by Cris Escobar and funded by the Casa de la Cultura.
The first trailer for the film can be found online and it brought mixed reactions from locals who viewed it. There was pride because the story was finally being told to the world, but there were parts of the story, such as the colors worn by the actors in the film, that were incorrect. Martinez said people who see the film shouldn’t expect it to be a 100 percent accurate portrayal of everything that happened back then.
“Don’t expect it to be like it was when we were younger. Remember that things change but they story is still the same,” Martinez said. “Once people start viewing the film I think those memories and pride will just ooze out, more so when they hear the music of that era and hear those names. I encourage anybody that knows anyone from Del Rio to see what came out of this small neighborhood school when laws and society weren’t the most favorable for Mexican-Americans. For anybody else who might think that life now isn’t that great, they should view it and remember that they can do anything if they put their mind to it and make the impossible possible.”
For more information on how to become and exes member, contact Martinez at 830-734-5724.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
