Dude, it's been, like, fore-evvvv-errrr! OMG!!
I bet y'all thought I forgot how to type or something. Nope, I've just been a little wrapped up in the Holidays (Ha! Get it? "Wrapped up'? Man, I slay me!). Anyway, that and the transition between the Fall and Winter sports season gave me a chance to take a little break. Following the end of the Fall seasons, I had an idea that I started working on. I'm calling it 'Meet the Leaders' and I'm offering up the first installment in the series in this post.
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| 'Leaders of the Pack' sponsorship banner. |
As you may know, when I signed on as a business sponsor for the Banks Trail MS athletic booster club, I created a banner to highlight the top 8th grade athletes for each sport, as determined by their coaches. I titled the banner 'Leaders of the Pack' and you can see it hanging in the school gym and on the fence surrounding the football field. There are ten different student-athletes on the banner representing the boys and girls teams for each sport at the school. My idea was to do a video interview segment with each of these athletes, entitled 'Meet The Leaders', where I asked them various questions about their sport, why they love it, highlights from the seasons, etc. I also interviewed their coaches to get their thoughts on the players strengths as a player and teammate, future prospects, etc. I'm putting those together with my action photos and videos as a way to introduce these fine young people to you all.
First up is Alissa Ilacqua, the volleyball leader of the pack. Alissa's first love is softball, which she's been playing for eight years now, she says. But before entering 7th grade she took an interest in volleyball. After participating in a summer volleyball camp, she decided to try out for Coach Amanda Scott's 7th grade team at Banks Trail. Not only did she make the team, but she ended up garnering team MVP honors for the season. The highlight of her 7th grade season was in a match against Sullivan MS in which she served 23 consecutive points. The 7th grade season was a tough campaign though, as the team was only able to manage a couple of wins. Hopes ran high for the 8th grade season as she returned with most of her teammates to play again for Coach Scott. In her segment below you can learn more about how the season went and more from Coach Scott. Check it out.
I will eventually do a 'Meet the Leaders' for each of the athletes on the banner as the Winter seasons roll into Spring. In the immediate future I will be bringing you segments featuring Zeb Graham (basketball) Annika Ford (basketball) RJ Upton (football) and Lauren Bolam (cheerleading). Future segments will include Josh Cloud and Payton Foster for track, Hunter Dest and Blake Fentress for soccer and Bradley Bott for baseball.
I went to Thursday's boys basketball games at home against Fort Mill MS. Both teams headed into the game 4-1 on the regular season, with both losses coming against Springfield MS back on Dec. 17th. The 8th graders beat FMMS 50-29 to improve to 7-1 overall including their tournament play. The 7th graders also won, 39-29, to move to 5-3 overall.
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| 8th grader Zeb Graham lays in two points vs FM |
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7th grader Dustin Noller puts up a jumper
against FM |
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Coach Poeppelman's 7th gr tourney champs.
(photo from Emily Poeppelman) |
The girls teams traveled to FMMS to take on the Yellow Jackets there. After Thursday's win the 7th grade girls improved to 7-2 overall. That record includes a first place finish at this year's Yellow Jacket Middle School Invitational Tournament held during the break at Fort Mill High School. The 8th grade team also beat FMMS on Thursday to up its record to 6-3 overall. The 8th graders finished second in the Fort Mill tournament.
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8th grader Amiah Lindsay shoots over Springfield
defender during December game. |
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7th grader Calli Wells in action vs Springfield
in December matchup
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| 8th Grade 'Mean Girls' are PowderPuff Champs |
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| 8th grade ball carrier Annika Ford gets her flag picked by 8th grader Amiah Lindsay |
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| 7th grade players tangle up for the ball. |
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| 6th grader Felicity Shackleford (green) grabs the flag of another 6th grade ball carrier |
Finally, way back at the beginning of November, Banks Trail held its first-ever Powder Puff football fundraiser to raise money for the BTMS Athletic Booster Club. Two teams from each grade (6th, 7th & 8th) played games on the night of November 3rd on the BTMS football field. As advertised, the girls gave it their all and forgot, at times, that it was supposed to be a non-contact game. Everyone seemed to have a great time, the teams had fun competing and a good amount of money was raised for the booster club. Coach Emily Poeppelman's 8th grade 'Mean Girls' (don't let the pink shirts fool you!) team won the night and were crowned champs of the first annual Banks Trail Powder Puff games. According to booster club president Chris Bott, the event netted nearly $1000 for the booster club. Not too bad for its inaugural effort. The next major fundraising event is the annual Banks Trail MS 5k & Fun Run, being held this year on February 28th. Registrations are now open and you can click on the link in the information below to sign up and learn more. This is a great way to support our middle school athletic program that receives no funding from the school district. Check out the information and links below to get involved in this year's event! Hope to see you all real soon...from the sidelines!
As many may know, nearly five years ago the school district was faced with tough budget cuts which resulted in our Middle School Sports Program being cut. During this time, each middle school booster club has raised the money needed to continue to fund middle school sports. Because of the efforts of many individuals and businesses within our community, we are proud to say that our self-funded, middle school sports program continues to offer students in the district the chance to play and participate in sports.
Events such as this help keep Middle School Sports a viable character building option for our Student-Athletes.
There are a few ways to support this event.
2. Donate goods or services for our online auction. Examples may be sports memorabilia, restaurant gift certificates, timeshares, professional services and merchandise.
3. Contribute financially for our Family or Business sponsorships. Family Sponsorships start at $100. Your contribution may be tax deductible.
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