The Hokie team is coached by Chris Carter, and the roster is full of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders.
Twelve players dot the roster with the makeup ➗️ between boys (7) and girls (5). One of the five girls 👧 is one of our nine grandchildren, Maddie.
The group plays in two different seasons of the year, so this is the seventh time that Chris has coached this particular group of youngsters.
8 years old and in the 3rd grade
Math 🧮 is her favorite subject in school and recently landed on the AB Honor Roll. Proud moment recently when Maddie had an essay published with the subject being Martin Luther King and kindness.
The drive from Luray to Beckley will be 3 & 1/2 hours and will begin shortly after the end of the second 20 minute half..
The we love ❤️ Maddie Fan Club will include her mother 👩 Christina, Great Uncle Wayne, grandfather, and two sisters, Ana(12) and Melody (11). I guess we like her head coach as well!
Tonight is the first match of the spring season, and we are excited about being in attendance !
Ana is home 🏡 from school 🏫 and ready to cheer on Maddie ! Seven grader, so the game will be taking place at her school 🏫Melody
Meanwhile, over in Beckley, our Golden Bears 🐻 Baseball team got off to a rather rough start against Midway University.
Half Pint getting some wide screen love ❤️
The team jerseys arrived this afternoon, and now the team has on Hokie colors !
79° at 1st touch……5:36
2nd minute of action 🎬 and the Hokies put the biscuit in the basket 🧺, 1-0
12th minute – Goooooooaaaaalllllll ! Up, 2-0
14th minute – Biscuit in the basket 🧺, again ! 3-0
Sherry Slaughter is the person who makes everyone who walks through the door 🚪 in the pro shop at Olde Mill Golf Pro Shop feel like they matter !
While she is doing a job that she is compensated for, the level of commitment to the job is through the roof ! She even managed to make me smile 😃 when she took all of my money 💰 ( yearly dues).
Nothing is better than a positive conversation with someone who looks at life in the same manner.
Come out for the golf ⛳️ but take the time to enjoy Sherry or her equally uplifting Bo Goins !
What do the Washington Post, Beckley’s Register – Herald, The Carroll News, and the Galax Gazette have in common ?
Each newspaper has made drastic changes to how they view sports. Gone are the days when sports played a major role in the newspaper industry.
A little over two months ago, the Washington Post, one of the largest newspapers in the United States 🇺🇸 pulled the plug 🔌 on its spoits department as a whole !
The Register – Herald is a solid six day publication in a city where the population of the greater area is just over 100,000. Not all that long ago, we would have someone from the newspaper stop by our games, but they too have trained their readers to expect a different type of sports section. One full of wire reports on professional games with a few local stories that can be generated from a desk mixed in.
The story I wrote tonight was an attempt for the newspaper to have coverage from one of our games ahead of a doubleheader tomorrow. We will see if it makes the online or print edition ?
The weekly Galax Gazette was forced to make a highly unpopular decision about its Sports department back in the fall of 2023. The newspaper parted ways with a local legend, Craig Worrell, and seriously downshifted its sports coverage.
Where does The Carroll News fit into this story? Another long-time home-grown Homer named Worrell went from being a sports editor to being the editor. Working with a skeleton crew, Allen Worrell was forced into a unique role, and it stayed that way for quite some time.
News and community first and sprinkle in sports when you can. Then, those pesky, Alyssa Ervin led juggernaut won consecutive State Championships, forcing the newspaper to provide Wall to Wall coverage.
The one sport that was never going to lack coverage was the football team. Football is KING 🤴, even at the high school level. Beyond that, sports became an option. How did the Carroll News continue to produce a normal looking sports section for another two plus years ? The answer there was he found a partner in his Homerness ways, and the good news was the person worked for free !
The fella agreed to cover everything that could be covered and then politely step aside when a story grew. The perfect example was when Anthony Barnes and his Cavaliers made their state run, the writer switched from me to Allen. It worked really well for right at three years before Allen stepped away from the position when an opportunity presented itself.
The number of stories I created for the newspaper was well north of 250, and it included state coverage for Track and Field (3 times ) ➕️ state golf ⛳️ for Chase Reavis twice. Each time on my own dime and it was because I felt that individuals going to State were of the exact same relevance as teams.
Coaches have to adjust to coverage that comes over the phone and when it’s convenient to an already demanding job of a newspaper editor.
Going back to today, I arrived at the stadium 90 minutes prior to first pitch and then proceeded to call a ballgame that flirted with lasting four full hours. Then, the choice of spending another 90 minutes to create a story on the hopes that it will be used makes for a really, really long day. But in a season full of tough losses, these student athletes deserved a moment in the Sun 🌞.
Somewhere, in the back of my brain 🧠, I hear Danny Glover saying, “Man, I am too old for this stuff”
Now it’s 11:43 p.m., and we get to start all over here in a bit. Sports talk radio 📻, ESPN, and social media have changed the landscape, and I promise you, it’s not going to change back.
Bill Meade coaches the Boys 👦 Tennis 🎾 team at Staunton High School 🏫 and it’s always refreshing to hear from our long time. Friend and this morning he told a fun story about his teams match at Rockbridge High School.
Early season schedule 📅
His team was playing down in Lexington at Rockbridge County High School.
They dropped their previous match 5-4 at Alleghany High School a few days earlier and were locked 🔒 into another close battle with RCHS.
The match was all square at 4-4, and the deciding set was as back and forth as one could play. Eventually, it became too dark for the Student Athletes to see the ball , and neither team brought their glow in the dark balls, so the match was halted.
Que the famous Tom Hanks line in the movie, A League of Their Own –
Are you tying ?, There’s no tying in Tennis!!!
The match will be resumed when the two teams meet up later in the season at Mary Baldwin.
It is always great to converse with a Man 👨 who identifies with so many things that we hold near and dear to our efforts !
Thank you, Coach, for giving of your time and effort to lead our youth !
I have been Blessed 🙌 to have quite a few next level individuals placed in my path over the decades. Dr. T. Ramon Stuart sits incredibly high on that list.
The distinguished Gentleman is the President of West Virginia Tech University and does a tremendous job for the Student Body in Beckley, West Virginia. His background and mine has some similarities in regards to our humble upbringings but this young Man took his game and love for Education and took it to a different level if not universe.
Everything is life is a bit more of a challenge due to health issues, especially when it comes to traveling. So on Tuesday morning, when it was time to head towards Charleston, I had to pad the window by a couple of hours to allow for a Rest Area nap along the way.
Fast Forward to arriving in Beckley, where the campus is located. Our games that day were being played one hour further North so I parked the car and decided a long walk across the campus might be the best way to wake up and get the blood flowing.
We don’t play baseball on campus so its very rare for me to take in the sights and sounds of the small grounds so I was taking it all in. It was just about time to get back in the Car 🚗 and head up the turnpike for the games.
Then, I was startled by a voice that came out of nowhere. To clarify my relationship with West Virginia Tech University, I announce for the Baseball team, write ✍ for them and do my very best to help my long time friend, Lawrence Nesselrodt keep the Train 🚆 on the tracks.
For 18 years now, we team up with the Legendary Joe Goddard and try to guide young Men through a key 🔑 part of their life. It’s not just about Baseball, at least not at Tech.
Not an Alumni, Not a Big Booster, but hey, I do have a nice title for my volunteer position. I’m the Director of Baseball Operations which sounds Awesome but I’m a small pebble in the pond that is WVU-T.
The voice calling out to me was that of Dr. Stuart. It might have been the cane or the odd gate that allowed him to spot me from 50 feet away while he was greeting a Student at the front door to his office.
We have had previous conversations since the took the title of President but this one was different because seeing the humility that this Man has while doing a very difficult job impressed me even more.
The task that day was to hand sign a certificate for each and every Student who made the Presidents List. The next step was his Staff would take a Photo 📷 of the Student and Dr. Stuart, much like the one above where I had the privilege of standing next to him.
We went on to Charleston and played baseball ⚾️ for five hours and split a double header with West Virginia Wesleyan. Afterwards, I would set a new record for the closest Hotel 🏨 I have needed to stop at in regards to miles from our home. Forty Five miles for those of you scoring along.
I ended up with a few keepsakes out of the 15 minutes we spent together but the lasting impact came in the acknowledgment from someone who I have a Coal Truck full of respect for.
If you have an opportunity to take a moment or two, one never knows what it might do to lift the spirits of the person who you are sharing the time with.
Yesterday afternoon, as I was finishing up a conversation with Track Coach Shawn Montgomery, I was headed back to my car and head back to Laurel Fork at the end of two very long days. Just short of reaching the car, I crossed paths with two sharp looking young people.
Isaiah Easter was walking across campus with Ali Wright. Two young Student Athletes that enjoy spending time together and this led to an opportunity to have a conversation with them.
I believe that I have written pretty much everything I going to write ✍ about the youngest of the Easter children and the next time Ali will play for the School is Volleyball next fall. Not to say that the brief exchange with the two left the impression with them that my time with the President did but I would like to think it mattered.
Life happens FAST and people stay busy but try hard to never be too busy to show kindness to others and not just when its to your benefit.
I think this one brings me to within one of being caught up !!!
A.S.P.N on The Hill 