Tag Archive for: #kerrvanceacademy

SportsTalk: Youth Lead KVA Baseball To Championship Game

/by

Mike Rigsbee, Kerr-Vance Academy baseball coach, is proud of his young team.  With only two seniors in the lineup, the team advanced all the way to the state championship series this past week.

Unfortunately, KVA lost two games out of three to Lawrenceville Academy.  “Our goal was to get there,” Rigsbee said on SportsTalk Wednesday.

KVA lost the first game 5-4, rebounded in the first game Saturday by winning 3-2 but lost the second Saturday game by the score 10-0.  “It was a great season overall,” Rigsbee stated.  “I knew we could make a run,” the coach continued.

Rigsbee has already started preparations for next season.  Schedules are being prepared now, and he fully expects that KVA will be back in the running for a championship next year.

Click Play!

 

SportsTalk: KVA Looking To Advance In Playoffs

/by

Kerr-Vance Academy’s baseball and soccer teams have begun the playoffs.  Mike Joyner, KVA athletic director, was on Wednesday’s SportsTalk and said both teams got off to a great start in the first round with the soccer team defeating North Hills Tuesday 1-0 and the baseball team winning 10-0 in six innings, also against North Hills.  “The kids step it up a notch in the playoffs,” Joyner said.  The season has been a challenge for KVA. “The schools we play against are significantly bigger,” Joyner added.

The KVA soccer team will play Pungo this (Wednesday) afternoon, weather permitting and the baseball team will have to wait on the winner of the Halifax vs. Ridgecroft matchup to know when they will play next.

 

SportsTalk: KVA Graduate Joins The Iron Dukes

/by

Duke, NC State and UNC…them’s fightin’ words around here.  Loyalty to your favorite university sports team is just part of growing up in North Carolina.  What do you do if you are a graduate of NC State, UNC and work for Duke?  That’s the unique situation that Kerr Vance Academy graduate John Averette finds himself in.

Averette, who was a guest on Wednesday’s SportsTalk, started off as an undergraduate at NC State.  “Getting into sports management at NC State was an accident,” Averette said.  He was thinking about going into business but was placed in the sports management program.  “I didn’t know anything about it,” Averette added.

During his time with the Wolfpack, he interned with Wolfpack Sports Properties and when he completed his time at NC State he moved over to UNC to work with the Rams Club as an intern.  Once he graduated from UNC, he went into the job market where he landed a position with the Iron Dukes.

“I do a lot of fundraising,” Averette said. According to Averette, sports management is more than just fund raising.  “There are hundreds of people behind the scenes,” he said.  All of the athletic events and people fall under the sports management umbrella.

Averette credits Kerr Vance Academy for giving him the foundation to succeed in his current profession. “They are a great school for having a college prep environment.  They teach the little things to get you ready for the college environment,” Averette said.  They just don’t teach you who to pull for.

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: KVA Finds WIns On The Baseball Field

/by

Practices cancelled and losing games from the schedule are just a couple of the problems that Mike Joyner, Athletic Director at Kerr-Vance Academy, has faced this season. It’s been a challenging year for Joyner and KVA with all of the rain that has happened this spring. “Seven of the first 10 games were rained out,” Joyner said. But it’s not just the rain and it’s not just the missed practices, “it’s juggling the schedule to find officials,” Joyner said on Wednesday’s SportsTalk.  Despite the rain and despite all of the events that have been cancelled this season, KVA finds itself at 5-1 in baseball.  They lost their first game but now have been on A five  game winning streak. Recently KVA’s baseball team took a trip to see Rutgers take on UNC in Chapel Hill, which Joyner described as a great trip for the team.  As for his girls soccer team, he says the team is young and inexperienced and although the team is winless so far this season, he hopes that further games will help them find a few victories as the year continues. KVA is on spring break next week but will return to action in April.

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: Former KVA Baseball Standout R.J. Johnson Returns To NC

/by

Rutgers University in New Jersey may seem like a long ways away from North Carolina but former Kerr Vance Academy and current Rutgers standout baseball player R. J. Johnson gets back to the area more than one might think.  “We are here almost every weekend,” Johnson said on SportsTalk.  Johnson and Rutgers were in the state this week as the school took on UNC.  The school plays a lot of teams in the south due to weather conditions during the early spring.

Johnson, an outfielder, is having a great season as a leadoff batter with a .300 batting average helping Rutgers to a 10-5 record so far this season.  Johnson, a Franklin County native and 2021 graduate of KVA, is looking forward to the rest of the season.  “We are in a rough patch right now but the future is bright,” Johnson said.

His advice for younger players?  “Always work hard and have fun everyday,” he says.  His former coach at KVA, Mike Rigsbee, had this to say about his former player: “He’s a great player and a great student.”

CLICK PLAY! 

SportsTalk: KVA Baseball Finally Gets On The Field

/by

Like so many other schools in the area, Kerr Vance Academy has had trouble getting in games due to the recent wet weather.  “Our first five games were rained out,” head coach Mike Rigsbee said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  The school has only just this week gotten on the field.  They lost their opener 3-0 against Lawrence Academy while beating Faith Academy 5-4 in nine innings in their second game.

Rigsbee is optimistic about his team.  “We’ve got potential,” he says. “We are young.  One senior, three juniors, four sophomores, one freshman and an eighth grader,” he added.

The team is travelling this week to see UNC play.  “It’s a bonding experience,” Rigsbee says.  Next week, weather permitting, KVA will have three games on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

 

SportsTalk: Rain And Umpire Shortage Are Obstacles For KVA

/by

“Rain rain go away, come again some other day” might be what’s on the mind of Kerr Vance Academy Athletic Director Mike Joyner.  “We’ve had no baseball, no soccer and only one golf match,” Joyner said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  Rain has caused seven baseball games to be cancelled this year.  “We have nowhere for the water to drain,” Joyner added.

In addition to the rain, rescheduling has been difficult due to ongoing umpire shortages. “We need better recruiting,” Joyner said of the shortage.  Joyner also said disrespect from fans and low wages has made it difficult to recruit umpires. Additionally, Joyner said that not enough young people are going into the ranks as umpires to replace those who are aging out.

There is a bright side to the cancellations.  “We had a couple of player with nagging injuries and these cancelled games have allowed them time to heal,” Joyner stated.  With better weather forecast next week, KVA hopes to get all of their spring sports back out playing.

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: KVA Prepares For Playoffs And Spring Sports

/by

For Kerr-Vance Academy’s athletic director, Mike Joyner, it’s been a long fall season.  Basketball tournaments and the holidays have all contributed.  Joyner, who was a guest on Thursday’s SportsTalk, said the season is going well.  “Our boys basketball team has won two conference games in a row,” Joyner said.  The most recent victory was Wednesday night against Halifax.  The boys team is just over .500 for the season.  Meanwhile, the girls and JV teams have already qualified for the state playoffs. “The playoffs should start with the first round on February 13th,” Joyner added.

Joyner also looked ahead to spring sports. “Our baseball team should be able to contend,” Joyner said.  The team was a solid playoff team last year and lost no players to graduation and the same can be said for the school’s golf team, while girls soccer will bring back almost all of the players from last year.

CLICK PLAY!

 

 

SportsTalk: KVA Prepares For Holiday Tournament

/by

Mike Joyner, Kerr Vance Academy athletic director, has reason to be happy with the school’s Fall sports programs.  “Every team made the playoffs,” Joyner stated on Thursday’s SportsTalk.  Now that fall sports have come to an end, the winter sports season is kicking into high gear.  The Spartans have one win to their credit in boys basketball and the girls team is struggling with injuries at the moment but an upcoming holiday tournament at the school will give both squads a chance to rebound.  The tournament takes place next weekend.  “Big crowds and lots of alumni are expected,” Joyner said.

Joyner also singled out cheerleading coach Elizabeth Wilson.  “The cheerleading squad has tripled in size,” Joyner said.  One of the highlights of the upcoming basketball tournament will be the Spartanettes who are cheerleaders from lower grades, Almost like a JV cheerleading squad.  They have several opportunities to perform routines with the older girls throughout the season and the tournament will provide the Spartanettes a chance to show off their skills.  Again, the tournament begins Friday, December 15th at Kerr Vance Academy.

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: KVA Prepares For Tournaments

/by

Schools around the area are approaching state playoffs and conference tournaments.  Kerr Vance Academy is no exception.  The school’s Volleyball team, currently ranked 7th in the state, will take on Faith Christian in the second round of their conference tournament in Rocky Mount after receiving a first round bye, according to Mike Joyner, KVA Athletic Director.  Once the conference tournament finishes up it’s likely KVA will have some more home games to start off state playoffs.  “Depending on how the conference finishes, it’s likely we will get more home games,” Joyner said.

Soccer and Tennis have also finished their regular season.  “We will likely have to travel in the first round,” Joyner said in regards to his soccer and tennis teams. “We are waiting for seeding,” Joyner added.

Basketball is also gearing up for JV girls and boys and varsity girls and boys.  Basketball season opens Oct. 30th.

And if that weren’t enough Joyner is also prepping the school’s swim team.  “We have six or seven swimmers and we are hoping to schedule meets closer to home this year,” Joyner commented. Joyner was a guest on Wednesday’s SportsTalk on WIZS.