Football just ahead, program building Little League sign-ups this week

For many, many years, Clinton County was without a varsity football program after several years of going winless in the 1980’s and a dwindling number of participants for several years resulted in the sport eventually being eliminated from the CCHS lineup.

That changed in the early 2000s when the sport was re-introduced here, at first on the junior varsity level, then on the varsity level for the re-birth year of the sport in 2006.

With a rebuilt program as well as new facilities that are top notch from the fieldhouse to Bulldog field itself, the program continues to be in the building mode, but finally things are looking as if the resurrection might be successful.

The Bulldogs will take the field for the first time this season when we play host to cross-state rival Pickett County, Tennessee in just over a week on Friday, August 21 on Bulldog field. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.

Of course for any varsity program to survive and be successful, there has to be a strong feeder program that gives the younger athletes the chance to learn the sport’s ins and outs and proper fundamentals early on.

The 21st Century Little League Football and Cheerleading program will get underway shortly and sign-ups for the program will be held this Saturday, August 15 at Albany IGA. Sign-up hours will be from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon.

A separate article appears elsewhere this week in Sports with more details on the youth sign-ups.

Volley Dawgs to serve it up next week

The 2015 volleyball season at CCHS also is set to begin next week when the Volley Dawgs serve it up for the first time on Tuesday, August 18, playing host to Monroe County in the Lindle Castle Gymnasium at 5:00 p.m.

Fall Sports preview in the works

We continue to work on our annual Fall Big Blue Preview and as is the case each and every year, this particular special section is the most challenging one to get out and in the hands of our readers, simply because of the late start of one of the fall sports in the line-up, Cross Country.

With the Golf Dawgs and Lady Golf Dawgs already playing matches and both volleyball and football getting started next week, we will hopefully be able to soon present the Preview with a look at the teams, coaches and players as well as the schedule for each of the sports.

We are also looking at possible alternatives in working with the wide varied start-ups for the fall sports.

Sid looking toward ball season

Sid Scott has had a pretty rough summer with a battle against pneumonia but as I reported last week, after an extended stay in an area hospital, followed by a brief stint in a rehabilitation facility in Cookeville, Sid is back at home and continues to go through rehab therapy and is improving and getting stronger every day.

The long-time voice of the Bulldogs over WANY, Sid has been broadcasting basketball games and football games for several decades – beginning in the late 1950s.

Recovering with a positive outlook, his daughter Lynn Starnes tells me this week that Sid “continues to push himself and he keeps saying ‘ball season is just around the corner.’ ”

She again wanted to express the entire family’s gratitude to the community for their concerns, prayers, phone calls and words of encouragement during Sid’s health ordeal.