CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Football and barbecue, that’s what Texas does. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when you learn Texas has athletes competing on the gridiron and on the grill. The London BBQ team has just returned from the National High School BBQ Association (NHBA) championship, placing eighth in the whole country.
"You get to make good food, you get to learn more. Free food and experience, I don't know why you'd say no to that," said Jackson Hoelscher, a member of the team.
Coree Perez was a new London Independent School District teacher to start the year. After previously competing on a barbecue team herself, she threw the idea out to a few students to start a London team.
She taught them that a lot of preparation is needed before the grill is fired up. Hoelscher said there's a science to it all.
“Our barbecue at the beginning of the year at our first regional competition versus now is completely different. The way we barbecue, the seasonings we use, temperatures, and cook times. It’s a lot of practice, a lot of eating,” he said.
This past school year was the first year for the London BBQ team. They would meet every few weeks to practice and refine their flavors.
“We actually qualified for state in our first competition ever,” Ricky Ramirez said, a senior on the team.
They competed in two regional events, then placed third at the state competition before heading to the national competition.
Barbecue competitions involve the cooking of several items to be graded.
"With the turn in times and everything that goes with that, you have to be working on multiple things at once," said Ramirez.
The combined talents of Hoelscher, Ramirez and Connor Spivey sent judges taste buds to heaven when they placed top 10 in the country for dutch oven dessert, pork chop, and chicken.
While the London team is a new program, there are more established teams out there with state-of-the-art equipment. Teams with more than three competitors. Ramirez mentioned James Madison High School in San Antonio as a rival. They have their own agriculture program.
Nothing gives these guys the meat sweats, though.
“They had their own butcher shop, their own freezers, they raise their own meat. Compared to what we have it’s a lot,” said Ramirez.
“It’s not the equipment that matters, though, it’s how you cook. So, that’s kind of the mindset we were in and obviously, we preformed pretty well," said Hoelscher.
After a year under their belt, there’s no shortage of confidence. Before joining he team, for Hoelscher and Ramirez, the extent of their grilling occurred with their own families in the backyard.
Now, when asked about their favorite barbecue, they said it's their own.
"When I first started, I had no idea what it would do for me in my own growth as a person," Ramirez said. "But, I think it's a really cool opportunity especially for kids at a young age that are still trying to figure out what they want to do in life.
Hoelscher and Ramirez both had thoughts about studying physical therapy after high school. Then barbecue opened their eyes to more opportunities.
“It's provided a lot more opportunities that's for sure," Hoelscher said. "New scholarships you can get, possible careers in barbecuing. It’s opened up a lot of doors for opportunity."
“At the national competition, there was actually some pit masters that they were demonstrating a whole hog that was cooked. They're talking about how these guys do it for a living and they're in Belgium, and Italy, and everything cooking in competitions. They do that for their careers, for their jobs. And, it can actually happen. It was cool to hear from them because we always think it’s just backyard barbecue its whatever. But I mean, these guys have literally built their lives around it and they love what they do,” said Ramirez.
After trying one of their fajita tacos with homemade pico de gallo, I asked what their secret was.
Both Hoelscher and Ramirez responded, "We can't tell you."
Ramirez and Spivey will be returning to the team this fall. Hoelscher has graduated and looks to continue competitive barbecuing in the near future.
"To know that we're going to be a part of a program that's hopefully going to last years to come, it's a really cool feeling" Ramirez said.
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