Hannah Rainwater isn’t the first in her family to call herself a Southside Maverick.

Southside coach Steve Brown hopes she’s not the last, either.

“I just told her daddy, ‘I appreciate you sharing both your daughters (Jordan and Hannah) with me.’ He said, ‘Well, you know Lydia, don’t you?’ I’d like to have an opportunity to coach her, too,” Brown said.

The youngest of Tim and Melissa Rainwater’s four children recently finished her seventh-grade season at Chaffin Junior High. But Hannah Rainwater’s Southside Mavericks career takes one final swing through the Stubblefield Center today when the Mavericks face the Northside Lady Bears at 6 p.m.

Already assured of a state tournament berth next week in North Little Rock, Rainwater said she long ago embraced what the last two seasons have meant to her.

“Really, to just have fun with it,” she said. “That’s mainly what sports is about. It’s about meeting new friends, growing together, and having fun. It was really great last year, because me and Kelly (Carson) have played together since kindergarten. We broke away in junior high (Carson attended Ramsey and Rainwater played for Chaffin). And Montana (Smith) was with us, too, so it was fun to bring us all back together.”

Sports is a big deal within the Rainwaters’ close-knit family. There was T-ball, where she was once teammates with Lavaca standout Garrett Eck, followed by soccer. Then came lots of travel ball tournaments.

“We’ve grown up in sports,” Rainwater said. “My dad was a big athlete. They started us in T-ball and soccer. It’s kind of a way for our family to bond and just learn different things. It’s really about learning life skills.”

Within a few weeks, Rainwater’s schedule will slow down, too.


“It’s really crazy to think I’m going to have so much free time, because there’s not going to be any practice,” she said. “With Jordan, I was able to go through it, but it’s also sad.”

The Mavericks don’t have the most sparkling overall record. The team, in fact, hadn’t won more than four conference games since 2013-14. Three years ago, Southside finished 0-14 in league play.

Last year, they won two of their first three league games but finished 3-11 and out of the postseason picture.

This year, by virtue of two wins over Mount St. Mary and a forfeit via Cabot, the Mavericks will represent the 7A-Central as the No. 6 seed next week at the state tournament.

“It means the world to me,” Rainwater said. “I was telling them before we played Mount St. Mary ... I said, ‘Y’all, this is the seniors’ last chance to get to the state tournament.' Even in the ninth grade, I didn’t even make it to the regional tournament.”

Rainwater poured in 13 points in Tuesday’s 63-51 loss to Little Rock Central.

“You have to learn to work as a team, to work to your strengths,” Rainwater said. “We really don’t have much size, like the Little Rock teams, so we have to learn to play to our strengths.”

“It’s her leadership and her understanding,” Brown said. “She understands what we need to do. When we need to get something done, she understands it. I still have some that are still trying to figure that out.

“She has a very good understanding of the game.”
