‘We are Maberry Strong.’ Daniel Maberry remembered during Mansfield basketball games
In the first home game since Daniel Maberry’s passing, the Mansfield girls and boys basketball teams took to the floor Friday versus Waxahachie and honored the school’s late head football coach.
He died Tuesday night from Stage 4 lymphoma, which he had since January 2018. Maberry, 47, fought the disease for the first half of the year until that summer when it went into remission. He was even cleared for most of the football season, but the disease returned in October of that year.
The gym was full of green, the color associated with lymphoma awareness. People who wore green received free admission. They could donate money while all proceeds from the concession stand went to the Maberry family.
A memorial will be held at the Mansfield Performing Arts Center Monday at 2 p.m.
The Mansfield teams wore WE ARE MANSFIELD and MABERRY STRONG shirts. Cheerleaders also wore shirts that said MABERRY STRONG. Two banners were court side that read LOVE LIKE MABERRY and A GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.
After the girls team defeated Waxahachie, 55-50, the school paid tribute to Maberry with both teams on the court. Interim coach Greg George, who worked with Maberry for nearly 20 years, spoke before ending the tribute with a “We Are Maberry Strong” chant with the crowd.
Maberry, who was hired as a teacher in the Mansfield school district 20 years ago, became an assistant football coach in 2002. In 2016, he became the program’s head coach and won back-to-back district titles in his first two seasons.
Players, colleagues and friends went to social media to remember Maberry, who was known as a dedicated coach and beloved husband and father.
This story was originally published February 8, 2020 at 11:15 AM.
