62nd AMXS receives Commander’s Sports Trophy

  • Published
  • By Dean Siemon
  • Northwest Guardian
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  Like many units, the 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Joint Base Lewis-McChord proudly displays the various trophies won throughout the installation's intramural sports program. On Monday, they received a trophy that no other JBLM Air Force unit had ever claimed - the JBLM Commander's Sports Trophy.

The trophy is awarded annually to the JBLM unit that accumulates the most points based on participation, league placement and post-season placement in various activities - basketball, swimming, bowling, soccer, volleyball, cross-country, softball, golf, Sound to Narrows Military Run, flag football and wrestling.

Despite not winning titles in any intramural sport in 2014, the squadron received the coveted cup for their consistent, collective regular season performances at or near the top of standings in multiple intramural sports.

"I think it shows a good consistency throughout the year for our mindset, our approach and our participation," said Lt. Col. Jeff Darden, 62nd AMXS commander. "We were very consistent in doing better than the other squadrons."

One of the best seasons the 62nd AMXS had was in soccer - they were the defending champions. After finishing 7-2 and outscoring opponents 33-6, the team returned to the championship game but lost 3-2 to the 296th Brigade Support Battalion.

The team was also invited to participate in the "Game of Your Life" event in May at Century Link Field in Seattle. The game was a kickoff to the Pass the Love national campaign against a team from Madigan Army Medical Center with soccer stars Clint Dempsey and Alex Morgan as coaches.

The 62nd AMXS finished undefeated in the regular season of flag football, going 11-0 before losing to 1st Special Forces Group 14-6 in the second round of the unit playoffs. The 1st SFG team eventually won the unit-level championship.

The squadron finished the regular season with a 12-1 record against other McChord Field teams during the softball season before losing to the 24th Quartermasters Company 17-7 in September in the playoffs. The unit also finished 6-2 in volleyball before entering the playoffs.

"It shows what effort the squadron has put together as a whole and the diversity that we have as players to go from one sport and go to another," said Senior Airman Todd Johnson, sports representative for the AMXS. "We definitely have a few who play softball, football and soccer, but there are some who strictly stay within their sport."

The 62nd AMXS only failed to compete in bowling, cross-country, golf, swimming, wrestling and the Sound to Narrows race because of its 24-7 work schedule.

"There's a job that they have," said Capt. Erin Hughes, who coached and played for the unit's volleyball team that won third place overall. "Our guys can leave at the drop of a hat. Hours before the game, you see who shows up and make your game plan from there."

Hughes was one of those players who deployed in May near the end of the volleyball season, missing the final three regular season games.

Darden said nearly all of the more than 700 members of the squadron were interested in intramural sports and building stronger relationships with fellow Airmen.

"It builds trust and cohesion," Darden said. "When you come back to work the next day, you know somebody on a different level - you trust them a bit more."