Seymour Sports Program Solid

By Lee Ramsey
    After moving up from the 2-AA to the 2-AAA state classification and the IMAC conference for the 2009-2010 season, the Seymour Eagles High School sports programs both boys and girls passed with flying colors; navy and gold of course.
    Many people around the community had questions as to how they would compete with the larger schools like Sevier County, Jefferson County and the two Morristown schools, ME and MW.
    Not even the coaches really knew before their prospective seasons began. They were headed into unchartered waters with a lot of shallow reefs.
    After many interviews with most of the coaches, they all were apprehensive about their upcoming seasons, but at the same time they were confident in their players.
    In the new classification, Seymour is on the low end of the enrollment chart as far as student numbers. Other schools the Eagles compete with are on the upper end which gives them more students to choose from when selecting top quality players. The smaller schools have to spread their rosters thinner when students want to play more than one sport.
    Examples would be a player in the winter having to choose between basketball and wrestling or in the fall having to choose between football and golf. In the spring it might be baseball vs. track.
    Now is a good time to review before it all starts again in about six weeks.
   In the fall, football and basketball both contended well considering the competition. Speed is of the utmost importance in these sports. There were no championships but Seymour was competitive.
    Wrestling and bowling were outstanding. Girls volleyball was competitive also along with cross country, track and girls soccer.
    Girls’ golf was successful with a senior laden team. They had a heavy banner to carry considering the success of the golf program over roughly the last 10 years.
    The teams in the spring picked up where the others left off. Baseball was very successful (2 seed in the district tournament) as well as girls’ softball and both boys and girls track. Softball was runner-up in the district and track advanced several participants to the state.
    Soccer was probably the most successful winning the district championship.
    Tennis represented the Eagles well also.
    All in all, Seymour athletics collected many team and individual awards throughout the school year. Many sports were coached by new and very young head coaches who did an outstanding job.
    Seymour has never competed on such a high level; not only classification wise but also in the very tough IMAC conference.
    As a former coach and parent of athletes at Seymour High School, and presently a sports writer, I am very proud of how Seymour athletes and coaches met this huge challenge.
    Congratulations are also in order for Athletic Director Gary Householder who is responsible for the entire athletic program at Seymour High School.
    I believe the overall results surprised most everyone.
    Congratulations to the Seymour Eagles.