Scholarship fund honors Miranda’s hopes, dreams

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Though his own dreams may have been clipped short, the spirit of John Colton “Colt” Miranda, 16, will live on, helping other young men and women to chase their dreams.
After a car accident on Oct. 31 took Miranda”s life, family friends struggled to find a source of comfort and meaning to his tragic death. A scholarship f

und, they decided, was the proper way to honor him.
Miranda was perhaps best known for his ardent love affair with the game soccer. Having begun to play at the tender age of 4, Miranda remained actively involved in soccer activities for the whole of his life, not only playing in community leagues and with the Lockhart Lions Junior Varsity Soccer team, but also volunteering his time to referee for the Lockhart Youth Soccer Association and to help maintain the fields at the Cpl. Jason K. LaFleur Sports Complex (formerly the Maple Street Soccer Fields).
According to his mother, Gwynda, Colt hoped to parlay his love for soccer, and his talent in the game, into athletic scholarships to college, where he planned to study Chiropractic Medicine. His excellence on the field, she said, was matched only by his dedication to his studies. Colt achieved perfect attendance for seven of his 10 full years in school, and was consistently on the All-A or A-B Honor Roll.
Though Colt”s work is done, his legacy will live on through the Colt Miranda Memorial Scholarship Fund, which was born when friends of the family showed an outpouring of support for Gwynda, her husband Johnny, and Colt”s sister, Shelby. Support came, not only in the form of prayers and hugs, but in financial contributions.
The best use of those contributions, the family decided, was to help other soccer players achieve their dreams. The fund will help achieve two goals, Gwynda said. It will encourage other high school students participating in soccer to continue their education, and to provide financial assistance to eligible families wishing to enroll their children in the Lockhart Youth Soccer Association fall or spring leagues.
Donations to the Colt Miranda Memorial Scholarship Fund may be sent to American National Bank, c/o Missie Hagan, P.O. Box 659, Lockhart, Texas 78644 and inquiries about the fund may be directed to Hagan at (512) 398-6344.
To further honor Colt, the Lockhart City Council will hear a recommendation for the City of Lockhart Parks Board suggesting naming Field 5 at the LaFleur Complex the “John Colton “Colt” Miranda Soccer Field,” etching his name permanently on the complex, league and sport he so loved.