SportsTalk: Highland Games Coming To Oxford Saturday

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Kilts and haggis and all things Scottish will descend on Oxford’s Central Children’s Home this Saturday for the Premier Highland Games.  Buck Buchanan, a board member of the Central Children’s Home, Organizer of the games and Scottish Descendent is expecting a big turnout for the event. “Last year we raised $10,000 in our first year. This year we are hoping for $25,000,” Buchanan said.  The money will all go to the Central Children’s Home.  “We want to provide a beautiful place for the children,” added Buchanan, and the money raised at Saturday’s free event will help.  While the event itself is free, there is a $20 fee for parking which also goes back to support the home.

The events will feature “large men and women” according to Buchanan.  These large men and women will be hurling heavy objects including 56 pound weights, 16 pound burlap bags, 20 pound Scottish hammers, 21 and 28 pound metal blocks, 18 pound river stones and logs in a variety of competitions.  All part of a Scottish tradition that goes back 700 years.

After the heavy objects are hurled you may need food, and there will be plenty of traditional Scottish food on hand from sausages and meat pies to haggis. Music will be provided by three pipe and drum bands to bring not only the sights but the sounds of Scotland to Oxford.

The event will take place 9  a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Central Children’s Home in Oxford at 211 W. Antioch Dr.

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SportsTalk: College Of Charleston Finding Success On The Baseball Field

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Will Dorton, Associate Head Baseball Coach and Pitching Coach at College of Charleston, talks about his team and their season. Dorton is married to the former Allison High of Henderson.

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SportsTalk: Vance Charter Lacrosse Ties For Conference Championship

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First year Vance Charter Lacrosse Head Coach Dan Sandlin is carrying on the family tradition at the school.  Sandlin has taken over for his father, Dennis, as the team’s head coach and has taken the defending conference champions to a tie for the conference title with J.F. Webb.

“Lacrosse is growing but, there are not a lot of 1A schools that have lacrosse,” Sandlin said on Wednesday’s SportsTalk.  With so few teams at the 1A level fielding a lacrosse team that means Sandlin has to compete against larger schools. “We try to schedule teams we can compete against,” Sandlin said.

The program has been very successful in the four years it has been offered at Vance Charter.  Coming off of last year’s conference championship has been a bit challenging as the team lost seven starters to graduation, but the defending champions are in the thick of it again this year with a solid core of players.

While the athletic side is certainly important to Sandlin, the academics are more so.  “We really try to help our guys know they are student-athletes with student coming first.”

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SportsTalk: KVA Baseball Plans Alumni Game

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A quick check of the gymnasium at Kerr-Vance Academy will find 20-plus state championship banners hanging there representing a variety of sports the school offers.  Six of those banners are for baseball championships. Those six championships began with the 2003 Spartan team.  While the ’03 team may have won a state championship perhaps their toughest opponent will come this Saturday when that legendary team will face off against the current KVA squad in an alumni fundraising game.

“It’s been in discussion since before Christmas of last year,” said Mike Joyner, KVA Athletic Director, on Wednesday’s SportsTalk. Joyner was approached by Robert Bowen and Tim Purvis, former members of the ’03 team, about the prospects of having the alumni game. “We have a full array of things planned,” Joyner added.

Bowen, Purvis and Joyner all worked together to bring Saturday’s game to the field at Kerr-Vance and money raised at the game will go back to the baseball program including some field improvements.

The 2003 team is now much older and Joyner said there may be some special rules in place to help the old timers out.

The game will take place at 11:30 a.m. at Kerr Vance Academy and admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children.

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SportsTalk: Dean Thomas Discusses The Challenges Of Game Officiating

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“It’s all about judgement” is the assessment of Dean Thomas when it comes to officiating ball games.  Thomas, a 1985 graduate of Vance Senior High School, has made many during his career as a baseball coach at Southern Vance, Head of Transportation for Vance County Schools, as a principal at E. M. Rollins and on the field as an official.

Thomas says officiating, like many other areas, is suffering from staff shortages. “Not a lot of young folks are getting into officiating,” Thomas said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  Thomas says there is a move underway to encourage younger people to come in and do the work.  Thomas thinks that one of the reasons it’s been hard to find people to officiate athletic events is a lack of respect for those who umpire and referee games.  “Over the last 10 or 15 years it has gotten worse,” Thomas added. Thomas officiates four different sports including baseball, softball, volleyball and football.

He also sees a change in the kids playing too due to technology.  He said kids lack interpersonal skills because they are always on the phone texting. When they are face to face, “They don’t know how to talk to each other,” Thomas said.

Despite the challenges that come with officiating games Thomas says, in the end, “We are out there to do what’s right for the kids and what’s right for the game.”

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SportsTalk: Mize Leads The Fun In Fungo Baseball

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Brad Mize, the son of the late Howard and Lisa Mize of Oxford and former student at J.F. Webb in Oxford, certainly has his hands full.  He is an assistant baseball coach at Heritage High School in Wake Forest and the General Manager for Wake Forest’s Fungo Baseball team which will begin its season on May 27th.  Fungo features college players from a variety of colleges including UNCW, UNCG, College of Charleston, Hofstra, Elon, Mt. Olive, Louisburg and more.

“Between June 2nd and July 28th we will play fifty games,” Mize said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  That’s a lot of baseball.  The team plays in Flaherty Park in Wake Forest and Mize said it’s a great fun atmosphere and cheaper than seeing the Mudcats or the Bulls play.  “Tickets are only $7 and kids under 12 get in free,” Mize said.  Special events are scheduled throughout the season like Thirsty Thursday, Hometown Heroes honoring local police and fire departments and the Centennial Weekend June 23rd through June 25th celebrating 100 years of baseball in Wake Forest.

It’s not all about baseball for Mize as part of his job is helping players find housing for two months.  “We are blessed to have local families that support us and take in players during the season,” Mize explained.

The first game for Fungo is an away game on May 27th.

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SportsTalk: Local AD’s Preparing For Playoffs

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The life of an athletic director at any level can be busy.  This time of year not only are there sporting activities, but there are proms, graduation and other end of school year events taking place to add to the load ADs face. Both Ray Noel at Vance County High School and George Hoyle Jr. at Thales Academy certainly have full plates.

Noel says the Vance County Vipers are about at the halfway point for baseball, softball and soccer.  Playoffs for baseball and soccer will begin in the first week of May with soccer following in the second week of May.  The baseball and softball teams are coming off wins against Granville Central and the girl’s soccer team, which is described as young by Noel, has now started to win some games with two conference victories under their belt.

The baseball team is down a player at the moment according to Noel.  “Chris Jones is in California for an All-Star Football game,” Noel said.  Jones, a star on the Viper’s football team, is also a big part of the baseball team as well. Noel also said the Isman Alston Jr., another Vipers football standout, has just signed with St. Augustine.  He also plays on the baseball team.

Over at Thales Academy in Rolesville, Henderson’s George Hoyle Jr. is the athletic director, and he is as busy as Noel. He also has a young soccer team with only one senior and a tough non-conference schedule has now resulted in a couple of conference wins, with the team having won its last two games.  His softball team is in the same position, young but improving with a 3-5 record. Varsity baseball is definitely on the upward track at Thales as they are now 6-3.  Thales’ is set to be good for the foreseeable future as well. “Our middle school talent is ridiculous,” Hoyle said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  The school, which started in 2007, has shown tremendous growth as they are now a 3A school and could soon be a 4A.

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SportsTalk: Swartz Looking For A Future In Pro Basketball

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It’s the dream of most basketball players to play in the pros after their college career comes to an end and that’s exactly what Georgia Tech’s Cameron Swartz hopes to do. Swartz, who is the great granddaughter of Leon and Rebecca Frazier of Bear Pond, here in Vance County, is finishing up her college career and is now turning her attention to playing either overseas or in the WNBA.

“I have some international offers,” Swartz said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  “Most likely I will play in Spain.  It’s a great way to travel and see the world,” Swartz added.  The WNBA is also not out of the question.  “I could be drafted in the second or third round,” Swartz added.  However, she thinks playing in Spain is her most likely destination.  She will work on improving her game and hopefully draw attention from the WNBA.

At the moment, Swartz is rehabbing a knee. Swartz played for three years at Boston College before transferring to Georgia Tech and has become a strong three point shooter and a scrappy player.

Once her playing career finishes she plans on staying involved in basketball in some form. “I’d like to be a college coach or go into broadcasting,” Swartz commented.

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SportsTalk: Mark Packer Remembers His Father, Billy Packer

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Enjoy this post of Mark Packer speaking about his father, legendary basketball announcer Billy Packer.

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Crossroads Christian School

SportsTalk: Richardson Oversees Success Of Spring Sports At Crossroads

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Spring is a busy time for athletics at Crossroads Christian and that means Scottie Richardson, the school’s athletic director, is also busy. For the most though, Richardson has a smile on his face since his teams are performing well. “Spring sports are wide open,” Richardson commented on Thursday’s SportsTalk.

The varsity baseball team is 3-1 and is currently on a three game winning streak. The team has been more fortunate than some of the other area schools which have been unable to get in games due to poor weather. While poor weather hasn’t been much of a concern for the baseball team, the lack of officials has. “We had to cancel a game against Warren County because there were no umpires,” Richardson said.

Girl’s soccer has an identical record to the baseball team, 3-1, and that team has also won three in a row. Girl’s soccer, with coach Tony Bennett at the controls, is also 2-0 in the conference.

Additionally, the school’s golf team is undefeated at 3-0, but Richardson is unhappy with how the state has structured the divisions. 1A and 2A schools are now in what is called Division III forcing Crossroads to play much bigger schools. Richardson says they may have twice as many golfers as Crossroads which currently only has five players. One of those is a 7th grader. Still, Richardson is happy with the team which is currently 10th in the state.

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