We’ve all seen the house divided flag-half Auburn, half Alabama; or half Tennessee, half Auburn; or, well, you get the picture. We could sell some flags like that right here in Jacksonville. It would read Alexandria/Jacksonville and would feature a Golden Eagle swooping down over a Valley Cub, or a Valley Cub jumping up in the air grasping a Golden Eagle between its teeth, whichever way you would envision it!No one in Jacksonville would deserve to fly that flag more than Sonja Tucker Parris or Kelley Haynes. Sonja is mother to Alexandria head football coach Frank Tucker and Kelley is his proud sister. Now these facts in and of themselves wouldn’t raise an eyebrow unless you delve a little bit further.
Sonja is a retired teacher with 25 years of service; 20 of them at Alexandria High School where she taught English and was voted to the Alexandria Teachers Hall of Fame. She reared both Kelley and Frank in the Alexandria school system where Frank was a three-letter athlete and Kelley, “was totally ingrained in Alexandria,” explained Sonja. Kelley was a cheerleader (ok, for those of us who have sat by her at games NOW we understand!), was chosen football sweetheart and homecoming queen.
Still no room for contention? Now we get to the good part. Eight years ago Kelley moved her family away from the Golden Springs school system to the Jacksonville school system. “I moved here for the school system,” says Kelley, who has just started her second term on the Jacksonville City Board of Education. “”I looked around and saw other school systems and I just thought this would be a really good fit for me.”
Kelley went on to explain that she wanted her two daughters, Megan, who was entering the fifth grade, and Mallory, kindergarten, to be able to establish their own identity, rather than being known as Kelley’s daughters, or Frank’s nieces, or Sonja’s grandchildren.
Megan and Mallory have thrived in Jacksonville. Megan, now graduated, played a part on the state championship volleyball team last year and also played soccer through the tenth grade. Mallory, in the eighth grade, plays for the junior high volleyball team.
A year after Kelley moved to Jacksonville Sonja followed, having just married Jerry Parris. Sonja resigned her position on the Calhoun County Board of Education after serving four years to move to Jacksonville. Being married to Jerry, who served two terms on the city council for Jacksonville (by the way Jerry, thank you for your dedication and service to the city!) and whose son Matt played sports for JHS, Sonja started supporting Jacksonville athletics, attending not only sports where her granddaughters participated, but became an all-around fan as she and Jerry are avid booster club supporters and get to all the events they can.
It’s no wonder then that when Alexandria and Jacksonville face off in football, as they did last Friday night, Sonja and Kelley have split feelings. Sonja obviously wants her son to do well. She and Kelley cheered for him when he was a star quarterback at Alexandria. His senior year he threw for 299 yards against Oxford and was named the state Player of the Week. The next week, against Jacksonville (oh, the irony of it all) his collar bone was broken ending his football career. Frank went on to graduate from college and came back to Alexandria to coach where he was assistant to Larry Ginn until he took the program over last year when Ginn resigned. Frank was away from the Valley Cubs for only one year when he went to Mobile to coach at Mary Montgomery High School in basketball, leading a program that had never been to the playoffs to a playoff spot, and was named Coach of the Year.
So, it’s hard to cheer for one, and not another. “It’s very difficult,” said Sonja, “because I have grandchildren in Alexandria and grandchildren at Jacksonville; I have a daughter on the Board of Education in Jacksonville and a son who teaches at Alexandria. If Kelley’s two are playing I sit on the Jacksonville side. If it’s a team that Frank coaches I sit on his side. I do not holler for either team. It’s hard for me when I sit with the girls because on the other side sits children, coaches and principals I know.”
For Kelley it’s equally as hard. Having gone to Alexandria all her life, she sees classmates and friends at all the games. Last Friday night was no different. “When I walked in Friday night all my classmates were getting in the victory line and calling, ‘Kelley Tuuucker’ and that’s when I knew I was in trouble,” laughed Kelley. “I just said, “I’m going to walk over here for a minute,” as she proceeded to the Jacksonville side.
Kelley said she and brother Frank do tease a bit about the games, but she says her brother is humble and has nothing but respect for the coaches he plays against. “He’s very, very respectful and thinks a lot of Coach (Roland) Houston. Friday night after the game he commented on how much he thinks of Coach Houston; and all coaches in the area.”
And who does Kelley cheer for? “I can’t pull against my brother so I just pull for everybody when we play. I want our boys to do really well because I know how hard they have worked. I’ve watched my brother through the years and I know how hard he works and the time he puts in so I just want both teams to play to the best of their ability.” Well said for a sister who loves her brother and loves the community she lives in.
So every year when the annual rivalry takes place, think about Sonja and Kelley and the flags that are flying.
