ValwoodChampionship Season Take 1

JANUARY 2013 FREEJO

CKSPO

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A Cover Girl For All Seasons

Youth ServedValdosta YMCAParks & RecBoys & Girls Club

S P O R T S M A G A Z IIIIIIII NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Championship Season Take 1

JANUARY 2013 FREEJO

CKSPO

RTSM

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AZIN

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Valdosta YMCAParks & RecBoys & Girls Club

BIG THINGS COME IN SMALL

PACKAGES

Contents

School FocusValdosta High School ........... 16

Valwood ................................ 18

Lowndes High School .......... 20

Cook County ........................ 24

Hamilton County .................. 26

Brooks County ....................... 28

Ga Christian ......................... 30

FeaturesF

Youth SpotlightParks & Rec ............................. 6

Boys & Girls Club ..................... 8

YMCA .................................... 10

12Your Own Personal Mountain

13A Champions

Heart

14Practice Perfect

16

12

18

JANUARY 2013

JOCKSPORTSMAGAZINE.COM

January 2013Vol. 1, No. 1

This magazine is published/printed monthly by Smalltown Publishing LLC.

and distributed free throughout the Valdosta community.

PublisherScott JamesDennis Rice

Trent Coggins

EditorsRebekah Matheson

Phil Jones

Contributing WritersJesse Sheeley

Brian FlemmingRussell Owens

Desiree McCormickScott JamesDale Crane

Patrick MurphyPhil Jones

Jasmine SiskDr. Michael McCartney

ColumnistKalae Zambelli

Mike Mason

Contributing PhotographersSteven Heddon

Wes SewellDennis Rice

Graphics and LayoutDebbie Dewell, Great Minds, Inc.

AdvertisingCharles HurdScott JamesPhil Jones

Dennis Rice

WebsiteSteven Heddon

Digital subscriptions available at jocksportsmagazine.com

Jock Sports Magazine ©2013

S P O R T S M A G A Z I N E

A New Beginning We approach this as a labor of love and a billboard for

youth that are doing life ‘right’ and as a way to counter the day

to day headlines and stories of youth doing life ‘wrong.’ With that

approach and your help we hope to present this ‘triple threat’ to

South Georgia and North Florida for many years to come.

We welcome you to ‘your magazine’: the very first ‘Jock

Sports Magazine’, some 8 years in the making. Let me first ex-

plain ‘your magazine’…this triple threat of a monthly magazine,

a daily radio show, and an up to the minute page-flip website

will be about your kids and their on the field and off the field

accomplishments at all levels of youth and prep sports. You will

be asked to email photo and caption of their events, awards, activities

to be posted on the Website newsfeed. You will be encouraged to call in to the

daily radio show on the Jock 1150AM & 96.1FM from 3p-4p, and we will be

seeking your guidance for content to each month’s magazine, a magazine we

will be putting out for ‘free’.

Second, let me explain the 8 years in the making…we draw our inspiration

from our love for sports and our fond memories of what organized sport

taught us as children and have talked about and explored launching this

magazine for the last 5 years. I know, I said 8 years in the making … for that I

give credit to a good friend named Tina King who through her newsletter and

radio show ‘Community Kids Talk’ featured all the positive things going on in

kid’s lives for the last 8 years (Tina, who is a single Mom, stopped the radio

show this past year to concentrate on getting the first of her two boys off to

College). Tina, you and the young people you paraded through our studio

inspired us.

It also inspired us as we embarked on putting the first magazine together.

We were met with excitement and encouragement by every organization and

every school we contacted. We are asking them and you to document that

special moment and let us get to work bragging about it.

Jump in…grab a free copy of Jock Sports Magazine each and every month.

Call in…get involved in the radio show on WJEM every weekday afternoon

from 3p-4p. Send in…your photos and captions to be posted on our magazine

website. All in…and this will be something we can all be proud of for many

years to come.

THOUGHTS FROM THE PUBLISHER

2012 was an eventful year for Valdosta/Lowndes Co. Parks and Recreation Authority. Many new and exciting events occurred across the department and 2013 is shaping up to be even more exciting. VLPRA is a large organization with several departments; Youth and Adult athletics, Thera-peutics, Senior Citizens, Special Events and Parks division.

The Youth Athletic division at Vallotton Youth Complex hosted the Dizzy Dean State Tournament for 8 year old Coach Pitch and 10 year old baseball age groups. All divi-sions were involved in assisting with this tournament and helping to make it one of the best tournaments in the state. There were 21 teams in the 8 year old division and 28 in the 10 year old division. Our 9 year old baseball team competed in Canton and the 11 year old state tournament was in Rock Springs. The 10 year old team finished second after battling through the loser’s bracket. The 8 and 10 year old teams con-tinued on to play in the Dizzy Dean World Series played in Southaven, MS.

Over the summer, along with Chevy Youth Soccer, Val-lotton Youth Athletic staff hosted a free soccer clinic for children ages 5-14 with had approximately 75 children at-tending the clinic.

Sara Kloosterman joined Vallotton Youth staff in Novem-ber. She was the 4 year starting goalie for the Michigan State women’s soccer team and has coached at the collegiate level for Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Columbus State and Indiana University.

The Youth Athletic department offers baseball, softball, and soccer in the fall. During the winter and summer, soccer is offered. We offer baseball and softball in the spring.

For a full list of programs and activities visit www.vlpra.com “We work so you can play”

PARKS AND REC

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The Boys & Girls Club of Valdosta has a rich history of athletics in Valdo-sta and has provided sports since the 1950’s to the kids of our area. A num-ber of the members who played sports with the Club have gone on to college and professional careers in their sport.

The Boys & Girls Club of Valdos-ta had another great year in athletics for 2012. Each sport had more teams than the previous year and the fun and competition was incredible. The Boys & Girls Club provides basketball, baseball, football, and cheerleading for the youth of our area. Additional-ly, we collaborate with the Azalea City Soccer Club to provide soccer/camps and will begin a wrestling program in the Spring of 2013. Along with ath-letic skills, the Club seeks to promote teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play in its participants to help mold well rounded citizens that can give back to the community. Coaches and other volunteers are always needed in each sport and is great way to help the youth of our area.

2012 teams:Basketball-20 teamsBaseball-36 teamsFootball-33 teams

lease all the thlet s o e at 247-5437 for information on sports seasons and volunteering.

Brian Flemming, Athletic Director Bgcvaldosta.org

Life Lessons Learned Early

The YMCA’s Primetime program is Valdosta’s most organized, utilized and recognized afterschool destina-tion for elementary school children…and only getting better.

The YMCA was thrilled to be ap-proved and licensed to add the City Schools to their Primetime coverage and was up to the challenge of adding more counselors and super organizing each new site.

The Primetime program began re-ceiving tutelage and counsel from Geor-gia’s Quality Rated Program. Quality Rated trains counselors and site leaders to give priority attention to areas such as hygiene, supervision, curriculum, ac-tive play and mentoring.

The highlights of 2012 went beyond the activities and mentoring to life build-ing experiences like making Christmas cards to send to the troops overseas. The kids also brought in their Halloween candy as a gift to the troops and as a way to cut down on their sugar intake for the year. YMCA sites also donated jackets to give to those less fortunate in order to get them through the Winter season. These activities and more help promote

a charitable mindset and teach children that not everyone comes from similar circumstances and backgrounds. Cultur-al and Social sensitivity are imperative going forward.

YMCA leaders and counselors have worked together to implement Math,

Language Arts, Social Studies and Sci-ence into the afterschool curriculum in ways that still allow kids to have fun learning.

Counselors at Dewar Elementary organized a mock voting booth during the election to teach the children the importance of voting and letting your voice be heard. Clyattville Elementary created a ‘Primetime Bank’ in which each child has their own bank account using realistic currency to reward kids for responsibility and good behavior. Primetime has also utilized a fish tank to show how brine and other aquatic organisms function as a science re-quirement.

Whatever the project, what-ever the activi-ty, we should all strive to get kids engaged and chal-lenged each and every day.

By Russel RO Owens

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S P O R T S M A G A Z I N E

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ine.

com

Celebrate all that’s

good in our youth

today and

all the benefits

of participating in

youth sports.

When we face the metaphoric mountain life places in front of us we all tend to feel overwhelmed. When you are standing at the base of that mountain whichever way you look all you can see is mountain, mountain, and more mountain. However, if you were to start climbing very quickly your view would begin to change. Even a quarter of the way up you would start seeing some of the horizon and the top

of the trees. Your perspective would begin to change. With each milestone of your climb, you see more and more how your mountain fits into the grand landscape and contributes to the beau-ty of the skyline. You are now able to look left and right, up and down, and each way see something different.

In martial arts the climbing of the mountain relates to our ranking sys-tem. When you begin as a white belt,

you are at the base of the mountain. You are intro-duced to many techniques and principles that you mimic but may not com-pletely understand. The same is true of life. Climb-ing the martial arts “moun-tain” gives us the skills and confidence necessary to better climb the “moun-tains” of our career and per-sonal life. With each and every step up the mountain we begin to see more clearly as our perspective begins to

include more varied lines of sight.Strive for knowledge and always try

to see things more clearly. Never stop climbing your mountain.

WHITE TIGER

Your Own Personal Mountainby Master Mike Mason

Winnersville Elite was started by a sin-gle mom who already had an established career in business. Susan Colson, CPA, opened Winnersville Elite in September of 2008. Cheerleading was not her child-hood pastime, but it quickly became her daughter’s at the age of 5. After 11 years of being a cheer mom, Susan realized that her daughter needed more advanced training than what she was getting, Thus, Winnersville Elite. She teamed up with Dante Tennant and Kelli Fields, VSU’s head cheer and dance coaches, and start-ed what is now one of the largest gyms in the South Georgia region.

Winnersville Elite offers a variety of classes throughout the year. They teach recreational cheer and dance classes and also have an Allstar program. All rec classes practice one hour a week and perform in “The Big Show” at the end of the year. The Allstar program is a little more demanding, practicing up to 8 hours a week. All of their hard work pays off when competition season starts though. The teams travel 7 – 8 times a season all over Georgia and North Flor-ida to compete against teams from all over the nation. In their first year of competing, Winnersville Elite brought home a total of eight 1st place trophies, six 2nd place trophies, five 3rd place tro-phies, and two 4th place trophies.  They

WINNERSVILLE ELITE

A Champions Heart By Desiree McCormick

also won a total of 12 bids to the Inter-national All-Levels Challenge (formerly known as the International All-Levels Worlds). Their Senior 3 team holds the 2010 and 2011 National Champion ti-tle from the American Open Champi-onship in Orlando and the Senior Jazz Dance Team holds the Grand Champion title from the River City Championship in Jacksonville.  Their teams were just as successful in their second season when Senior 3 and Junior 2 won Cheer-Sport Nationals, the nations largest cheerleading competition. Last Year Junior 2 and Hip Hop won CheerSport Own the Dome along with many of the same titles from previous years.

This very successful gym is continu-ing to add to their trophy wall this year with all four of their allstar teams bring-ing home first place trophies at their first competition. The Senior 4 team also won Grand Champion for their division as well as the Diamond Award for being the team that stood out the most. At their second

competition, Winnersville Elite’s Junior 2 and Senior 3 teams both had top ten finishes. Mini 2 and Senior 4 both came in 3rd at this two-day event. All of their teams came back home ready to make changes before they head back to Atlanta in January to defend their titles at Cheer-sport as National Champions.

This season is a very special season for Winnersville though. One of our cheer dads was diagnosed with a stage 4 colon cancer. Donnie Foster (the most well known ‘Cheer Dad’ in this town) has been a part of the cheer world since his daughters started cheering with Susan’s daughter several years ago. His youngest daughter still cheers at Winnersville and he comes to the gym every day just to sit and watch the teams practice. Cheersport is his favorite event and he is fighting to make it there to watch the teams again this year. Winnersville Elite is proudly dedicating this allstar season to him for his loyalty and support to all the children and teams throughout the years.

By Desiree McCormick

tition, Winnersville Elite’s Junior Senior 3 teams both had top tens. Mini 2 and Senior 4 both came at this two-day event. All of their came back home ready to make s before they head back to Atlanta

uary to defend their titles at Cheer-rrs National Champions.

s season is a very special seasoninnersville though. One of ourdads was diagnosed with a stagen cancer. Donnie Foster (the most own ‘Cheer Dad’ in this town) has part of the cheer world since his ers started cheering with Susan’ser several years ago. His youngest er still cheers at Winnersville and

mes to the gym every day just to sittch the teams practice. Cheersport avorite event and he is fighting to t there to watch the teams again ar. Winnersville Elite is proudly

ting this allstar season to him for alty and support to all the children ams throughout the years.

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Recently, a “rant” in the Valdosta Daily Times “Rant and Rave” ques-tioned, “Coach, how is it that my kid, who goes to practice on time every day, gets to play only 2 downs a game?  How will the player get any better if he does not get in the game?”  Parents, it takes more than the player just go-ing to practice in order to get playing time.  It’s what the child does outside of practice that makes them into to-day’s athlete.  Some kids are just “born with” coordination, balance, and un-derstanding of game while other kids are “late bloomers” or just need the ex-tra time to develop their skills.  Sports are supposed to be fun for everyone, but remember losing is no fun!  Par-ents want their kids on a “winning team,” right?  The pressure for coach-es to produce a winning team results in newly introduced players lacking in game time. 

So how do new players build skills? The answer lies in what you and your child do outside of practice. Join your children outside to play a game or or-ganize one with the neighborhood kids; children enjoy it when adults join them at play. Practice is designed to learn skills, rules, and positions and mesh them together as a team.  The practice field is just like the classroom: it’s not the teacher’s responsibility to make students do their homework.  Also, parents must take time or pro-vide the avenues to help the child un-derstand the game and work towards the child’s potential.  Athletics has pro-gressed through the years. Now there are more skill-building camps offered during off-season, and participation in these camps are growing.  Participants obtain knowledge of the game and skill-building exercises to make them into better athletes.  Finally, get an early start on developing your child’s athletics.  Players who begin practicing their sport at an early age will gain an athletic foundation to help them un-derstand and develop their own phys-ical fitness. 

Practice Perfect

Recently, a “rant” in the Valdosta Daily Times “Rant and Rave” ques-tioned, “Coach, how is it that my kid,who goes to practice on time every day, gets to play only 2 downs a game? How will the player get any better if he does not get in the game?”  Parents, it takes more than the player just go-ing to practice in order to get playingtime.  It’s what the child does outsideof practice that makes them into to-day’s athlete.  Some kids are just “born with” coordination, balance, and un-derstanding of game while other kids are “late bloomers” or just need the ex-tra time to develop their skills.  Sports are supposed to be fun for everyone, but remember losing is no fun!  Par-ents want their kids on a “winning team,” right?  The pressure for coach-es to produce a winning team results in newly introduced players lacking in game time. 

So how do new players build skills?The answer lies in what you and your child do outside of practice. Join your children outside to play a game or or-ganize one with the neighborhood kids; children enjoy it when adults join them at play. Practice is designed tolearn skills, rules, and positions and mesh them together as a team.  Thepractice field is just like the classroom: it’s not the teacher’s responsibility to make students do their homework. Also, parents must take time or pro-vide the avenues to help the child un-derstand the game and work towards the child’s potential.  Athletics has pro-gressed through the years. Now there are more skill-building camps offered during off-season, and participation in these camps are growing.  Participants obtain knowledge of the game and skill-building exercises to make them into better athletes.  Finally, get an early start on developing your child’s athletics.  Players who begin practicing their sport at an early age will gain an athletic foundation to help them un-derstand and develop their own phys-ical fitness. 

Practice PerfectPracticePractice

By Kalae Zambelli

THE FIRM

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… when asked what it feels like when she is at top speed with the wind in her hair “It’s kind of like you’re ying … you’re free and relaxed. It’s tough to explain … it’s intense because of the competition but relaxed at the same time.”

VALDOSTA HIGH SCHOOL

Our Cover Girl: On The Fast-Track To SuccessBy Scott James

Donjhaé Jones knew she was fast at 5 years of age. Not long after that she learned her gift could take her as far as she wanted in life.

It was her dad that first pointed her to the track with the advice: if you want to be successful, you need to give it 110 percent—work first, play later. Donjhaé took Dad’s advice to the track, to the classroom and to every aspect of her life.

At Valdosta High our cover girl excelled in the 100 and 300 meter high hurdles, the triple jump, 4X100 relay, 4X400 relay and the 400 itself. That same blend of hard work and talent helped her to succeed in the classroom including excelling in and through the challenging International Baccalaureate program. Donjhaé took what time and energy she had left and got involved in SCA, Key Club and was elected Student Body Vice President.

Donjhaé Jones is everything our magazine looks for and everything we hope to inspire.

Donjhaé has since gone to Georgia Tech (over Georgia and University of North Carolina) where she competes in the Pentathlon during the indoor season (60 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 800 and the long jump) and focuses on the hurdles during the outdoor season. She has set a goal for herself to qualify for the NCAA Championships before her senior year and the even loftier goal of making it to the Olympics after her college career.

Professionally our star has her eyes fixed on medical school and a career as a sports medicine physician. Personally she hopes to inspire and help as many peo-ple as she can in life because so many people have helped her.

“Give 110 percent at everything you do, how you perform in the classroom af-fects how you do on the track…how you practice and perform on the track directly affects how you do in the classroom.”

Donjhaé Jones, our first ever cover girl, is everything this magazine hopes to be.

Photos by Steven Heddon, Fusion Creative Marketing

The 14-0 Valwood Valiants captured the GISA 2012 Class AA State Football Championship. A record crowd packed the bleachers at Valwood Stadium Friday night, Nov. 30. The Valiants defeated the Westwood Wildcats, 48-13. Once the clock struck zero, fans, students, parents, and faculty rushed the field to celebrate the victory with the team. Dr. Jeff Jackson, GISA president, was on hand to present the State Championship trophy to head football coach, Ashley Henderson and Valwood Headmaster Dr. Darren Pascavage.

Since the end of the season, the awards have started pour-ing in for the Valiants with the naming of nine Valiants to the All-Region 3-AA football team. Seniors Aulden Bynum, Griffin Clyatt, Rashad Mathis, Khary Paige, Jackson Pegg, Allan Taylor, Austin Wilkes, junior Char Merine, and sopho-more Merik Merine shared in the prestigious honor. Spence McQuaig, Gerrick Williams, Carter Elliott, Anthony Folkerts received All Region Honorable Mention.

Furthermore, Mathis, Paige, Taylor, Bynum, Clyatt, and Char Merine represented the Valiants on the All State Squad. Just days later, Henderson was named the Region 3-AA and GISA Class AA Coach of the Year, leading the Valiants to a

14-0 record and winning by an average of 32.3 points per game in his first season at the Valwood.

“We’ve been blessed with great players and assistant coaches. This award may have my name on it, but I accept it on behalf of the entire football team.” Henderson said.

The GISA All-Star Game was held at Mt. de Sales Academy in Macon on December 1st and the Valiants were well repre-sented here as well. Rashad Mathis, Griffin Clyatt, Austin Wilkes, Allen Taylor, and Gerrick Williams were selected to play for the South Squad. The South fell to the North with Rashad Mathis scoring the only touchdown for the South. Se-nior Alden Bynum graduated from Valwood in December and will begin his collegiate career at the University of Georgia in January 2012 and will play football for the Bulldogs in the fall.

Looking at next year Henderson is very encouraged, “Sure, we have a lot of holes to fill but we have a number of kids who are returning and are good football players and hard workers. I look forward to working with all of them and seeing where we go from here. Hopefully they learned how to win and what it takes to win from this bunch that is leaving us this year.”

VALWOOD HIGH SCHOOL

~The 14-0 Valwood Valiants celebrating the GISA 2012 Class

AA State Football Championship~

The Dream Season

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Dedication And A Sweet SwingBy KC Bell ower

Lowndes High has an expectation of

‘Excellence Every Day’ in the classroom

and this expectation is carried onto Morris

Coats Field of Dreams as well. The Lown-

des High Vikettes had a winning 2012

softball season complete with another 20+

win season, 6 players named to the All Re-

gion Team, 2 players named to the All State

Team and 7 of the 8 seniors committed to

play at the next level.

Victoria Barber and Keeli Jackson have not yet selected which school they will be attending although both girls have offers.

Ashley Blodgett has decided to pursue a nursing degree at ABAC.

Becca Prairie, freshman, and Madison Floyd, sophomore, were also selected to All-Region. Madison Floyd also received the Highest GPA award for the 2012 Vikette season.

LOWNDES HIGH SCHOOL

(Continued on page 22)

Heather Robinson, signed with Valdosta State University, se-lected All-Region team, selected All-State 2nd team, and received the Silver Slugger award for the 2012 Vikette season

“Most of these girls work at this all year long. I am so blessed to work with such a dedicated group of young ladies and I am proud to be part of their success. As a team, we set goals for each game we played, the entire season and what we expect when the season is over – some of the goals we met and some we didn’t. Overall, I believe these girls have worked hard to reach the goals they set for the team and themselves.”

—LHS Head Coach Stewart Thomas

22 2

Cara Parker, signed with Appalachian State, selected All-Region, named GADC All Star, selected All-State team, named 1st GACA All Star, and MVP for the 2012 Vikette season

Kendall Holland, committed to Darton College, selected All-Region 2nd team

2 2

Tiffany Bishop, committed to Darton College, selected All-Region, named GADC All Star, and Viking Pride Award for 2012 Vikette season

Chelsea Mefford, signed with VSU and received the Gold Glove Award for the 2012 Vikette season

24 224 2

With football season out of the way, the Cook High Hor-nets are in line to shoot another successful year in basket-ball. Determination and competition drives the heart of each Hornet to do their very best this year.

On Nov. 15th and 17th, the Lady Hornets began the season right with a double win first against Clinch County on the 15th and Echols County on the 17th. There is only one return-ing player this year, Elesha Foster, who is also leading scor-er and rebounder for the girls’ team. Contributors include: Shakeria Deberry, Tiairah James, and Jade Newsome. Girls coach, Clemmie Foster states, “I expect us to be very compet-itive in our region this year. The girls are working hard and I’ve seen great improvement from them. Many of them have stepped up and we are striving to be region champs and excel in state playoffs.” With many more games in the future, the girls have a chance to make their coach proud by playing to the best of their abilities.

The boy’s team started off their season with a win against Baker County on Dec. 1st. With only two returning starters, Rakeem Battle and Keith Tucker, the boy’s team is defi-

nitely pumped to take on new challenges. Contributors for this year include: Justin McCormick, Tomias Harvey, Jaylin Sharpe, and Tim Kinsey. Similar expectations were stated when boys coach, Tommy Blackshear was asked his goals for this year’s team. He said, “Our goal is the same every year: to be extremely competitive in our league and to continue to get better throughout the year in order to get to state play-offs.”

Both teams are working extremely hard to achieve their goals for this year. Through cooperation and teamwork the Hornet basketball team has the opportunity to make it to playoffs. Blackshear states, “Up until this point, I have been extremely pleased with our guys togetherness; I’ve really en-joyed coaching this team, and I am pleased with how hard they work. They practice every day and they really want to do well; their attitudes have really been good.”

Like we always say, “practice makes perfect,” and for the Hornets, this can happen. Each player on the team has an extraordinary gift and the coaches plan to use these gifts to come together and create a new team.

COOK HIGH SCHOOL

Cook Basketball Team Begins Season with High HopesBy Jasmine Sisk

Boys: Ronald Pettigrew, Keith Tucker, Rakeem Battle, Justin McCormick, Tomias Harvey, Chris Lissimore, and Tim Kinsey. -Bottom left going right: Jamerian Newsome, Jeremiah Smith, Jaylin Sharpe, Thomas Rountree, Travenski Jackson, and Jarrod Franklin.

Girls: Zedricka McNorton, Aaliyah Turner, Precious Walls, Sharon Groover, Jaylen Mobley, Kaleeyah Spencer, Kalyn Clayton, and Lakeyda Zachary. -Bottom left going right: Tiairah James, Dalneisha Dean, Elesha Foster, Shakeria DeBerry, and Darrisha Belcher.

2 2

I appreciate the opportunity to provide a monthly col-umn to support JOCK Sports Magazine. I will try to give you all a perspective on local Cook County sports, regarding both youth/rec and the school system. I will also provide some helpful health hints along the way about taking better care of the engine of the athlete.

For those who don’t know me, my day job is as a general dentist/owner of Adel Dental Associates in downtown Adel, GA. My night job during some parts of the year is as the voice of the Cook High Hornets football and baseball teams. I’m truly blessed to be able to pursue my many passions in life: 1) Being a true Christian servant 2) being the best hus-band and father I can be 3)changing lives daily by making the smiles of South Georgia more beautiful and healthy 4)broadcasting Cook County Sports.

Enough about me. The Cook Hornets football program continues to impress. They are 1 of only 2 teams in all of Class AA in Georgia to have made the playoffs 13 straight years (defending State Champ Calhoun is the other). In arguably the toughest region in AA, Region 1AA, the Hor-nets annually have to battle with the likes of Fitzgerald, Brooks County, Early County, and Thomasville just to earn a playoff spot, let alone try to win a region championship, which they did back in 2010. The 2012 season had its ups and downs, with Cook earning the #4 seed in the AA State Playoffs with a 7-3 regular season record. They then ran into a buzz saw by the name of the Lamar County Trojans, who had a little payback in mind from a loss at the hands of the Hornets back in 2000.

With the football season over for Cook, they turn their attention to the hardwood, the wrestling mat, and even the diamond, as the Baseball Hornets look to reclaim their rightful place atop Region 1AA and another run at a AA State Baseball Championship. You can bet Coach Cleve Edwards will have his young returning Hornets ready for battle when the season starts in late February.

With the new year upon us, I must take this opportuni-ty to encourage you to make a written resolution to make your health a priority in 2013. If you haven’t done so lately, make it a point to get a physical, including a comprehensive dental exam. We, as parents, should be role models for our kids, and that includes being as healthy as possible, so we can be there to watch them participate in sports, or even coach them. Make it a point to make 2013 your start on your journey towards a healthier you! See you next month!

Cook Excellence And A Healthier You

By Dr. Mike McCartney

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The smell of popcorn. The sound of a ball bouncing on a hardwood court. Running up and down the court and seeing the ball go through the nylon net. That’s right, it’s that time of year again when the Hamilton County High Trojan bas-ketball team is in action. Here’s a look at their season.

The Trojans look to return to the playoffs for the sec-ond consecutive season. Last year’s season ended with a heartbreaking 78-71 loss at eventual state runners up Hawthorne. They fought back from an 18 point deficit but couldn’t squash the Hornets in their nest. With a very top-heavy Class A in the state of Florida that includes defending state champs Chipley (who return most of their team), state semifinalist Union County (entire team returning), Holmes County (featuring top five player in the nation Chris Walk-er), and Hawthorne, the Trojans will have their work cut out for them if they hope to make the playoffs. Hamilton is hop-ing to have a chance to meet those challenges head on if they can come out of their district in first or second place.

Hamilton finished last season with a 9-1 district record making it their sixth consecutive winning record in district play. Their only loss was in the district championship game to Jefferson County by 3 points.

Hamilton has three returners who each averaged double figures in scoring last year. Hamilton’s leading returning scorer is junior guard Jeremiah Lee who averaged 10.1 points per game to go along with 4.3 rebounds per game. Lee also shot 48 percent from the field along with leading the team with 27 three pointers. Lee should provide nice touch from the outside along with length on the defensive end. Junior forward/guard Anterfernee Smith led the team in rebound-ing by averaging 4.9 rebounds per game. Smith also led the team in assists (3.5 per game). In addition, Smith averaged 10.0 points per game. Smith is a good all-around player who looks to contribute in many different ways. The Trojans were led in steals by sophomore guard Kevin McClain (2.1 per game) to go along with averaging 8.2 points per game on the offensive end of the floor. McClain showed much improve-ment over the summer and is very quick with nice offensive moves. Junior forward Shaquille Williams was second in the team in rebounding (4.8 per game) and third in scoring (9.9

points per game). Williams played mostly near the basket last year but is quite capable of knocking down the three point shot as well. Senior forward Joseph Cooks averaged 5.7 points per game last year to go with 3.6 rebounds per game. Cooks is also versatile in that he has a nice shooting touch and can also play close to the basket. Senior guard Jac-quez McCray joined the team after the Christmas break last season and ended the year averaging 6.4 points per game. McCray was second on the team in assists, too, averaging 3.0 assists per game. McCray is a good game manager and does a nice job controlling the tempo and setting up his team-mates for open looks. The Trojans were fairly deep last year and received contributions on the boards from senior center Tyler Chapman (3.6 rebounds per game) and junior center Anthony Claridy (2.1 rebounds per game). Both Chapman and Claridy will be relied upon to grab rebounds and provide solid defense on the interior. Senior guard Andrew Mana-lis returns from last year’s team and provides a nice spark. Manalis can shoot the three pointer well and has shown improvement from last year. Junior forward Justin Milton returns as well and is capable of making three pointers and playing on the interior. The two newcomers are senior for-ward Darian Speights and junior guard Aaron Cooks. Spei-ghts can play both outside and inside and Cooks is a tough competitor who has shown improvement over the summer.

The Trojans play one of the toughest schedules in Class 1A since every non-district team other than Hilliard is in higher classifications.

So, the road is tough but head coach Patrick Murphy is ex-cited about this year’s team. He is proud of the improvement shown by individual players since last season and he is also pleased with the effort in the classroom. This group has one of the highest team GPAs of any team he has coached in his 8 years at HCHS.

“This is a team I can trust to do certain things the right way and that’s very important,” said Murphy. He will take the players to Burnham Christian Church to read to the stu-dents there. Coach Murphy said, “It really is a good group of guys on our team. They are very likeable. I am looking for-ward to this season!”

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team in assists (3.5 per game). In addition, Smith averaged10.0 points per game. Smith is a good all-around player who looks to contribute in many different ways. The Trojans wereled in steals by sophomore guard Kevin McClain (2.1 pergame) to go along with averaging 8.2 points per game on theoffensive end of the floor. McClain showed much improve-ment over the summer and is very quick with nice offensive moves. Junior forward Shaquille Williams was second in the team in rebounding (4.8 per game) and third in scoring (9.9

pleased with the effort in the classroom. This group has one of the highest team GPAs of any team he has coached in his 8 years at HCHS.

“This is a team I can trust to do certain things the rightway and that’s very important,” said Murphy. He will takethe players to Burnham Christian Church to read to the stu-dents there. Coach Murphy said, “It really is a good group of guys on our team. They are very likeable. I am looking for-ward to this season!”

HAMILTON COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

Getting It Done On The Court

And In The Classroom By Patrick Murphy, Men’s Head Coach

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The Hamilton County Lady Trojans Soccer Team is a little over half way through their 2012 – 2013 season with district playoffs just around the corner. The Lady Trojans are com-ing off their best season ever last year as district runner-up and played in the Class 1A regional playoffs for the first time. However, this year team is a very young team after graduating 13 seniors in the past 2 years. The Lady Trojans have struggled this year with a record of 3 wins, 10 loses and are 2-4 in district play. They are currently tied for 3rd place in the district with 2 pivotal district games remaining after the Christmas holiday break.

The Trojans are made up of 2 seniors, 1 junior, 5 sopho-mores, 5 freshman, 3 - 8th graders and 1 - 7th grader. Shonteria Lee, Kennedi Perez and Davenea Melvin are the starting for-wards on the team with Cassidy Byrd as a back-up. Samantha Marcano, Diane Carter, Jesse Carter, Adelina Ponce, Shavonte Whetstone, Samantha Johnson and Angelica Gallegos rotate in as midfielders. The defenders are starters Jayla Williams, Allys-sa Shields, Nola Baltazar and Bria Gaskins with Alexis Owens providing relief duties. Goalie Tiffany Walton is starting in goal for her 2nd season and improves with every game. Senior Angelica Gallegos is the leader of the team and is very capable in her center midfield position. When asked about her role as the team leader, Gallegos stated, “I have to depend on my team-mates to do their job in the game. Sometimes they need some-one to encourage them and I try to do that by example”. She continued by saying, “We have some good players and I just try to assist them in any way that I can”.

The Trojans are coached by Chris Byrd and assistant Candido Perez. Coach Byrd is in his 8th year and has worked to establish a solid program at Hamilton County. Coach Byrd stated, “We have a great group of girls and they work hard to be competitive in every game”. He added, “We play the higher classes and although our record does not indicate it, we have a good team. I just have to keep reminding myself of just how young we are”. Coach Perez added, “We have a core group of girls who have been with our program since 6th grade and most of them played varsity last year. We are improving and we look forward to the next couple of years”.

The play of the Trojans has been in-consistent at times. Their strength is in their defense while the offense has had problems creating scoring opportuni-

ties. The core group (Davenea Melvin, Shonteria Lee, Jayla Williams and Nola Baltazar) as mentioned by Coach Perez above, has played solid but it has not carried over as a team in whole. Three new players to this year’s team have been a surprising addition - Diane Carter (8th), Jesse Carter (8th), and Bria Gaskins (7th). Coach Perez stated, “The Carter twins are very aggressive and Bria has been very strong in her right defensive back position.” Hamilton will have to get things together quickly if they plan to make a run in the playoffs this year.

The Lady Trojans are in Class 1A district 2 and play against teams from W. Gadsen, Lafayette County, John Paul II (Tallahassee), and MaClay (Tallahassee). Most rural county schools (in Florida) have their own “rural” districts in every sport except for soccer. The Trojans have to compete against private schools in larger cities in which have a larger pool of players to pull from. And these communities have a recreational soccer program and the players learn the fundamentals of the sport be-fore they reach the high school level. Hamilton County does not have an established recreational soccer program and most of the girls do not start playing soccer until the 7th grade. A recent 5 year analysis of the FHSAA state high school playoffs found that 96 percent of teams reaching the 2nd round of the regional playoffs (Class 1A) were pri-vate schools. Hamilton has 2 private schools within their district.

“We are in a very tough district but the expectation is for us to be able to compete against any team. We have done very well against other districts and we will find a way to get to the top of ours” stated Coach Byrd.

The Lady Trojans next game is Jan. 3rd at home against Gainesville’s Oak Hall at 5 PM. On Jan. 4th, the Trojans travel to Tallahassee to play John Paul II at 5 PM for a district showdown. The last home game of the season is against W. Gadsen on January 5th at 1PM. Come out and support the Lady Trojans and enjoy an entertaining brand of soccer.

Lady Trojans are young, but keeping pace in district play

By Phil Jones

Top: Davenea Melvin # 1 and Shonteria Lee # 12 plan for their attack at kickoff. Diane Carter # 4 has their back in the background.

Bottom: Angelica Gallegos # 13 controlling the ball as Kennedi Perez # 6 anticipates a pass. Alex Owens # 17 in the background.

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For the 2012 Brooks County High Trojans, this past sea-son included several high points: The first undefeated regular season in school history; A quarterback who threw for over 3,000 yards; A region championship, clinched on the road at region foe Berrien County; and, the Trojans first-ever victo-ry over their nemesis and neighbor 22 miles to the East, the mighty Valdosta Wildcats. But, as much as the Trojans had to celebrate from this past season, it was also as much about unfinished business in the case of Brooks County High School Head Football Coach Maurice Freeman. Despite a 10-0 regular season complete with a region title and 2 post-season wins at home in the GHSA class AA playoffs, Brooks County saw that otherwise successful season come to an end in a bad way with a playoff loss on the road at Calhoun, 49-14. That was the first loss of the season for the young Trojans, and left them 2 games shy of their ultimate goal: a state championship.

“We didn’t finish what we started; it’s as simple as that,” says Freeman, the sting of the playoff loss still fresh in his mind at the time of this interview, conducted less than one week after the Trojans string of 12 consecutive wins came to an abrupt loss in North Georgia. “Our goal was to win a state championship, and we didn’t do that. Yes, we are proud of some of the things we were able to accomplish this season: we defeated Valdosta for the first time in school history, and we also went undefeated for the first time in school history. But, not winning the state championship makes it very bittersweet. Right now, we’re still a little down about how we finished, but we’ll move on.”

While the Trojans are indeed still reeling from the pre-mature end to their season, they won’t stay down for long: Freeman expects returning players to begin weightlifting and off-season conditioning in about 2 weeks. Looking at the talent returning from this season’s one-loss team, it’s easy to see why the head coach is eager to get going for the 2013 season. “We are losing only 8 seniors to graduation, and our returning starters include our quarterback/wide-re-ceiver team of Malcolm Parrish and Deric Herring, so we’re ready to get started,” Freeman said.

Speaking of Parrish, he became the first quarterback in school history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a single sea-son. “He has a true love for the game”, Freeman says of his signal-caller. That love for the game, coupled with his God-giv-en talent, has earned Parrish and Herring a trip to the AT&T Rising Senior Bowl Game in Atlanta on Dec. 31st.

Other returning starters include offensive lineman Bobby Christian, defensive lineman Darren Henderson, linebacker Shawn Waters, and defensive end Jacari Watkins.

While Coach Freeman is fortunate to have so many key players back for another year, he realizes that there are a cou-ple of big losses that will pose a challenge if The Trojans are expecting to challenge for a state title next season, and there’s none bigger than linebacker Wayne Silas. Silas suffered a bro-ken leg, (actually a compound fracture), in the game against region opponent Albany High in 2011 that had doctors won-dering if Silas could ever return to play football again. So, once the leg healed enough to get back on his feet, Silas was determined to work his way back into shape, and decided to compete on the Trojans track squad. However, lady luck would thumb her nose at Silas once again when Silas suffered a bro-ken shin running sprints. Now it appeared a second leg injury would surely sideline the rising senior, but not Silas. He recov-ered from the shin injury, but it still was not clear if he would be able to return to play a sport as demanding as football. Not

BROOKS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

Brooks County Trojans Have A Lot To Look Forward To in 2013

By Phil Jones

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Despite falling short in playoffs, Freeman and Trojans return nucleus of team

only was he able to come back to play, but according to Free-man, he returned with a vengeance and, “was one of the pur-est hitters I’ve ever coached. He was definitely one of our great leaders on defense, and we’ll miss his heart as much as his abil-ity on the field. Wayne Silas’ ability to defy the odds and return to play football is as good a story as you’ll find anywhere”

Meanwhile, replacing senior Brandon Golden will require double the effort-that’s because Golden served as the team’s starting tailback and linebacker in 2012.While he was an all-state selection as a running back in 2011, he drew all region honors for his linebacker play this past year. With Silas and Golden leading the way this past year, the Trojans defense averaged over 3 turnovers per game.

On offense, even though Freeman is fortunate to have the tandem of Parrish and Herring returning to lead the way, you can bet there is one target that his quarterback will miss wide

receiver Sam Bradley. Freeman points to Bradley’s ability as a possession-type receiver as a strength that Brooks Coun-ty will surely miss in the game plan. “Sam Bradley is a very talented receiver who knew how to get open. He was a great possession receiver, especially when we needed that catch to keep the chains moving,” Freeman said.

Looking ahead, the 2013 schedule will not feature any surprises, as every team the Trojans played (and defeated) in 2012 will once again be the opponent lining up against Brooks County each and every Friday night. When asked about his expectations for next year, especially with so many key contributors from this years team returning, Freeman gives a familiar answer to those who closely follow the coach and his troops from Quitman: “ We still have unfinished busi-ness, and we’re going to get these guys ready to bring that hammer in 2013.”

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In 1947, Dasher Bible School (now known as Georgia Christian School, or GCS) began its bas-ketball program. The Dasher Ducks, as they were called, practiced on a full-sized clay court. Success did not take long and they won their first State Championship in 1949 and were crowned Class C Champions. The 1949 championship team included a young Gary Colson who spent ten seasons as Val-dosta State College’s basketball coach. He still has VSU’s best win/loss percentage in basketball (174-73 for a .704 win percentage).

Many successful seasons followed that 1949 championship and the winning tradition began. In the 1950s and 1960s, GCS was still competing in the GHSA and the basketball teams compiled sev-eral region and district championships. It was 1971 when Georgia Christian joined the Southeastern Association of Independent Schools (SEAIS). From 1980 until 1984, the Generals won 125 games in a row including four State Championships in Region 2AA. On one fateful December night in Lagrange, GA, the winning streak came to an end with a loss to the Lagrange Warriors, who defeated the Gener-als 66 to 65. Although many thought this would set GCS back, the Generals still went on to win the State Championship in ‘84. In 1988, the Generals made themselves known again in the state tourna-ments and brought home yet another state title.

It would be another twelve years before the Gen-erals played in another state final game. The Gen-erals faced Trinity Christian out of Dublin in March of 2000. Trinity was big and had won the 2000 Football State Championship and was picked to win basketball and baseball that same year. However, GCS was not only big; they had many skilled players in every position that knew the game of basketball. This allowed them to defeat Trinity Christian for yet another State Championship. The last two years, Georgia Christian has made it to the final four in boys’ basketball in the State Tournament. This year looks promising for them and the Lady Generals.

There have been 16 players to score 1000 points since 1970 and several have gone on to play at the next level. The Georgia Christian Generals have compiled 19 Region Championships and 8 State Championships since the basketball program began on that clay court back in 1947.

InInn 1119494947, DDasasheherr BiBiiblblb e ScScSchohoolololl (noow knknowownn as Georgia Christian School, or GCS) began its bas-ketball program. The Dasher Ducks, as they werecalled, practiced on a full-sized clay court. Successdid not take long and they won their first State Championship in 1949 and were crowned Class C Champions. The 1949 championship team includeda young Gary Colson who spent ten seasons as Val-dosta State College’s basketball coach. He still hasVSU’ b t i /l t i b k tb ll (174

GA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

The Past Inspires The Present

By Brad Lawson

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