By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio High School’s reigning Male Athlete of the Year truly believes in the saying, “Once a Ram, always a Ram.”
Senior Alan Dobbins has declared his intention to play football at Angelo State University in San Angelo. Like Del Rio, ASU’s mascot is the Rams.
He was one of seven seniors who announced their intentions to play sports in college. The announcement came in a ceremony held May 22 at the Carl P. Guys Memorial Gymnasium at the high school.
Dobbins was a multi-sport athlete throughout his high school career, excelling at football, basketball and track and field. In football he was recognized as an all-district selection at special teams and safety, both first team selections, and as a wide receiver, earning second team honors in that role. He was also named the Rams’ co-Offensive MVP and was the Defensive MVP after leading the team in interceptions and tackles.
Dobbins etched his name into the history books in basketball when his last-second layup lifted the Rams to a win over Eagle Pass and a playoff berth. He was the District 30-6A co-Defensive Player of the Year. Locally, Dobbins was named Assist King, earned the Ram Pride award and was named Mr. Basketball (MVP) for the season.
He wrapped up his athletic career with another stellar showing in track and field. He won the District 30-6A championship in both the triple jump and the high jump and was a regional qualifier in both events. He was named co-Jumper of the Year along with Perry Mcintire after a season in which he set a new school record in the triple jump with a leap of 45 feet, 4 inches, which was a foot longer than the previous record set by Jeff Peterson in 2012.
Dobbins was also presented with the Briana Muraira Sportsmanship Dedication Award and earned All-District All-Academic team recognition.
It could be said that Dobbins was destined for excellence. His mother, Claudia Juarez-Dobbins, was the Female Athlete of the Year in the early 1990’s, and it was his parents Claudia and Ryan Dobbins whom Alan thanked first during the ceremony.
“Mom and dad … your endless support throughout the years whether it was picking me up from practice, taking me home, taking me to practice, to games, what not, all that support and y’all’s sacrifices meant so much to me and I can never repay them. I love you, mom and dad. Thank you so much,” Dobbins said.
Dobbins used his time to also thank his coaches across all the sports he played. He thanked them for believing in him and for delivering special messages he’ll forever keep in his heart and teaching him life lessons that he said would carry him throughout his journey to becoming a young man.
He also took some time to address his teammates. He joked about how they shared many losses and a handful of wins together and how his closest teammates became somewhat of family to him.
His final personal words were directed to his younger brother, Ethan Dobbins, and his grandmother to whom he spoke in Spanish as she did not understand English.
“Thank you, little bro, for everything you’ve done. Whether it was in the backyard, playing basketball and getting heated in one on ones or playing a game where we were just sharing a memory, all the memories we’ve built over these years, it’s been a blessing. To see you grow up and to see you play and become the man you’re going to become is going to be exciting to watch,” Dobbins said.
Dobbins thanked his grandmother for cleaning his room while he was at practice and told her that everything he did in his games he did for her.
—
Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
