Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Avery Little League Announces Fund Raiser Winners, All-Star Selections
On a cool and drizzly evening at the Hodge Turbyfill Complex in Newland, the Avery County Little League announced the winners of its recent Vidalia onion sales fund raising competition. The league also released the names of players who have been selected by coaches to represent
Preceding the All-Star announcement, League President Jerry Moody announced the players who were the top three individual sellers of Vidalia onions and earned lucrative prizes, as well as overall team winners who will receive their own pizza party as part of the league’s season-long fund raising efforts to assist with making payments on the complex’s lighting system.
The Marlins Minor League Baseball team sold 260 boxes with earned first-place overall. Finishing in second place was the Giants Tee Ball squad, who sold 219 boxes as a team. The third place team, selling 140 boxes, was the Rangers Hybrid League Softball squad. Since the first and second place teams finished in such a close race, league officials decided to award a pizza party to both teams.
Top selling individuals who sold Vidalias received prizes for their efforts. Finishing in first place overall with 119 boxes sold was Logan Stout of the Tee Ball Giants club. Stout and his family received a weekend vacation package for four to Gatlinburg on behalf of the league.
Second-place seller overall and receiving a $50 prize was Josh Cook from the Minor League Baseball Marlins, and the third place individual seller receiving a $25 prize was Nicholas Johnson, also of the Minor League Baseball Marlins.
In all, a total of 68 children sold at least 10 boxes of Vidalia onions and 1,633 total boxes were sold in the community to help raise funds to be used to help with the annual payment for lighting at the baseball and softball fields.
Following the onion announcements, President Moody shared the names of the players who have been selected to participate in district All-Star competition beginning the last week of June and first week of July. Selections were made collectively by league coaches. In the week since the names of players were announced, a number of changes have taken place due to player unavailability due to
vacations or other conflicts, therefore alternate players with the highest vote totals from league coaches were added to the rosters.
As of June 23rd, the following players have been selected to all-star rosters for 2009 district competition:
All-Star girls softball (9-10 years old): Cassie Harris, Elizabeth Philips, Lillie Wiseman, Veronica Clark, Millie Bumgarner, Bethany Jones, Kesha Garland, Bri Cuthbertson, Charity Ollis, Paige Moody, Zoe Daniels
All-Star girls softball (11-12 years old): Ellie Lecka, Morgan Lecka, Kaitlyn Suddereth, Ashley Yoder, Christian Burleson, Destiny Ollis, Jerrica Rieger, Makayla Clark, Stacie Brewer, Allie Moody, Emily Brown, Abby Thompson
All-Star boys baseball (9-10 years old)
Jacob Daniels, Austin Dugger, Josh McClellan, Deacon Heath, Jordan Lecka, Caleb Hicks, Josh Cook, Lane Johnson, Andrew Knowles, Daniel Hartless, Brett Smith, Luke Crowe
All-Star boys baseball (11-12 years old)
Canaan Singleton, Kobe Pittman, Austin Phillips, Jeremiah Vance, Dale Russ, Gabriel Stanley, Austin Daniels, Eddie Yates, Wade Smith, Kyle Hoffman, Preston Childress, Jerry Lunsford
Once All-Star tournament play concludes, the league will begin a summer baseball and softball for the first time in league history. The new summer league will consist of minor and major league baseball, hybrid softball, and major league softball. It will offer local kids the chance to play in additional contests they would not ordinarily have, plus afford them more chances to bat and play innings.
“Children in leagues off the mountain are playing two and three times as many games and getting two or three times more at bats,” League President Jerry Moody said. “We have discussed this issue and as a league we feel if we want to improve the quality of our tournament and league play, we have to increase the quantity of at-bats, innings, and games that our kids are receiving. Since we start so much later than other leagues because of our weather and climate, we want to set up a situation in the summer where kids receive more quality playing time.”
As a whole this season, the Avery County Little League has had its share of ups and downs, but continued to complete yet another successful season of Tee-Ball, baseball, and softball leagues.
“This season has been different from all the rest. We’ve had more challenges this year than in the past, but I hope we have served the parents and children well despite the challenges,” Moody said. “We hope the league helps kids to learn to handle situations both good and bad in a positive fashion, and that it has helped instill good citizenship, courage, and fair play to them both on and off the field.”
Avery County Little League will hold its annual general meeting and board officer elections on Thursday, August 20th. The meeting is open to the public.
Avery Football Holds Youth Skills Camp
From June 15-17 the Avery Vikings football staff and around a dozen players, in conjunction with the Avery Parks and Recreation Department, worked with around 30 youngsters at MacDonald Stadium during this year’s Avery Youth Football Camp.
Despite periods of inclement weather, campers were able to learn skills and useful principles about the game of football, as well as valuable lessons about how similar lessons, like teamwork and striving to be successful, can apply beyond the football field and in everyday life.
Camp staff worked to help youths develop in several specific skill areas, using drills to hone campers’ speed, line stance, strength, footwork, agility, and technique. Abiding with recent tradition, campers were also treated to popsicles from the staff in appreciation for their efforts.
“I think the kids have had a lot of fun. That’s what we always strive for,” Avery head football coach Darrell Brewer said regarding the camp. “Of course you always want to have as many kids as possible be part of the camp, but the biggest thing for us with the kids that are here is that we want them to leave our camp with a genuine love for football and having a lot of fun.”
For the first time, the camp was held on the synthetic surface at MacDonald Stadium, which prevented muddy conditions or any cancellations due to the recent rainy weather endured by the High Country.
“It took the least time to prepare for the camp, that’s for sure,” Coach Brewer added. “In the past, we’ve had to take several hours to find paint and mark the field. It only took about 45 minutes for setup this year, and it’s been awesome.”
One by-product of the camp is that not only do the campers absorb knowledge and love for the game, but the high school players who volunteer to work the camp get to serve as role models and also brush up on their own skill sets.
“To the youngsters, watching these high school players is like watching college players. They’re bigger than life, and the kids really enjoy our players being out here, It’s also good for our high school players to be put in a position where they are teaching,” Coach Brewer explained.
“They hear so much from us as coaches, it’s good for them to be on the other side of things and pass those principles on to the younger generation. It helps them learn a little more and makes the players think a little more about what they’re doing, and is really a win-win situation for everybody involved.”
A number of high school players who helped with this year’s camp, including Ethan Hagie, Hunter Shields, Taylor Potter, Lane Smith just to name a few, were once in the shoes of the youths who were being taught. Their presence served as proof positive of the effectiveness and long-range impact that each year’s camp has on
“Several of our players were once campers here, and it’s great seeing them giving back to the campers today,” Coach Brewer added.
The youth football camp was one of several different sports camps being held for children throughout this summer. For more information on camps taking place this summer, check out the Journal-Times Sports Blog at www.ajtsports.blogspot.com or contact Avery Parks and Recreation at 733-8266.