In her own words, Tracey Bourland was meant to be a “boy mom.”
“Tracey is on the board for the booster club, has three boys in our program and works countless hours behind the scenes to ensure our players are well taken care of,” Westmoore High School head baseball coach Andrew McGuire said.
Luke Bourland, a Westmoore senior, wears No. 1 for the Jaguars. Twins Sam and Jake are sophomores.
“I knew when I had my first son that baseball was definitely going to be a part of our life,” Bourland said. Bourland was herself a Westmoore graduate and, while she wasn’t a student-athlete, her brother, Brian Gasaway, played baseball for the Jaguars.
Her husband, Joe, grew up in Texas and played baseball.
“I grew up involved in that sport with my brother, so I absolutely love it,” Bourland said. “We have a subscription to MLB. If there is a game on, we are watching one.
There is always some rivalry going on in our house as we all have our own favorite teams.”
“Once a Jag, always a Jag.” Bourland’s service to the varsity baseball team stretches far beyond her title as treasurer for the booster club. She helps clean the locker room and “fields questions from parents from all teams,” including visiting teams, to relay to McGuire. She coordinates players’ lunches and dinners on road trips. She hosts breakfasts and big ticket fight watch parties at her house.
“Being so community-based, I know a lot of these families, and they feel comfortable coming to me and asking questions that I can take to our coach and I can help get answers without our coach feeling overwhelmed, Bourland said. “I keep a pretty tight leash on our budget. I just want to make sure we have what we need but also being responsible for next season and having enough money to start us off on the right foot.”
It’s important, Bourland said, for her sons to know what’s important to them is important to her.
“And I’m willing to be a part of their program and their hard work isn’t taken lightly,” Bourland said, “to take pride in something that means something to them.”
Bourland hopes through baseball – and through her example – her sons to learn “how to work through adversity, being a good teammate, mental toughness, leadership and failure and how to deal with it positively.”
“I really try to show them that being loyal to something or someone is rewarding and can have a huge impact on people,” Bourland said. “At the end of the day, I want [Westmoore players] to take price in the legacy that the Bourlands have left, and if I can be a part of that, then I’m all for it.”